Citation Nr: 18156110 Decision Date: 12/07/18 Archive Date: 12/07/18 DOCKET NO. 16-35 494A DATE: December 7, 2018 ORDER A clothing allowance due to the Veteran’s use of a lumbar spine brace for the year 2015 is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran consistently uses his VA-issued lumbar spine brace for his service-connected lumbar degenerative disc disease that tends to wear or tear his clothing. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving all reasonable doubts in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for entitlement to a clothing allowance for 2015 due to the Veteran’s use of a lumbar spine brace are satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810(a) (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1986 to February 1990 and from January to March 1991. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2015 decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Dallas, Texas, which denied a clothing allowance for a lumbar spine brace for the year 2015. Entitlement to a clothing allowance due to the Veteran’s use of a lumbar spine brace for the year 2015 A veteran who has a service-connected disability is entitled to an annual clothing allowance upon meeting certain eligibility requirements. One way is if the veteran, because of a service-connected disability or disabilities, wears or uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance which tends to wear or tear clothing. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1) (2017). The Veteran contends that a clothing allowance for the year 2015 is warranted for his use of a lumbar spine brace due to his service-connected lumbar degenerative disc disease. See, e.g., April 2016 Notice of Disagreement. Specifically, he has reported that he uses “a very rigid steel back brace that wear[s] and tear[s] [his] clothing” given the nature of the brace. See id. As the Veteran has pointed out in a March 2017 statement, evidence of record reflects that the Veteran was in receipt of a clothing allowance for his use of the lumbar spine brace in 2012. See VETSNET Compensation and Pension Award Summary. Further, in the March 2017 statement, the Veteran indicated that lumbar spine brace for which he received a clothing allowance in 2012 was “still in use by [him],” suggesting that the nature of the use of his lumbar spine brace has remained unchanged from the prior year when he received a clothing allowance for the same lumbar spine brace. The Board has carefully reviewed the evidence of record and finds that the evidence supports the award of an annual clothing allowance for the year 2015 for the Veteran’s use of his lumbar spine brace. In this regard, the Veteran is competent to describe whether his orthopedic appliances cause wear, stretching, or tearing of his clothing, inasmuch as such is readily observable by a lay person. See Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2006). Further, it appears from the record that VA has previously recognized that the use of the Veteran’s lumbar spine brace, which was issued due to his service-connected lumbar spine disability, can wear or tear his clothing given that the Veteran received a clothing allowance for the same or similar lumbar spine brace in 2012. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1). When, after careful consideration of all procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding service origin, the degree of disability, or any other point, such doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. See also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App.49, 53-56 (1990). Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that the criteria for an annual clothing allowance for 2015 for the Veteran’s use of a lumbar spine brace for his service-connected lumbar spine disability are met. His appeal is granted. MARJORIE A. AUER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Kim, Associate Counsel