Citation Nr: 18158803 Decision Date: 12/17/18 Archive Date: 12/17/18 DOCKET NO. 16-40 718 DATE: December 17, 2018 ORDER A clothing allowance 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 back brace, rubbing cream, walking cane, and heating pad, for his service-connected lumbar spine intervertebral disc syndrome, that collectively tend to wear or tear clothing. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving all reasonable doubts in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for entitlement to a clothing allowance for 2015 are met. 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 January 1984 to May 2005. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Memphis, Tennessee. Entitlement to clothing allowance 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). A veteran is entitled to more than one clothing allowance when multiple types of garments are affected, such that an annual clothing allowance for each prosthetic or orthopedic appliance or medication used is warranted when each use satisfies the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1) outlined above; and such use affects a distinct type of article of clothing or outer garment. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(2) (2017). Further, a veteran is entitled to two annual clothing allowances if he or she uses more than one prosthetic or orthopedic appliance where each use satisfies the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1) outlined above; and together tends to wear or tear a single type of article of clothing at an increased rate of damage to the clothing due to the second appliance. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(3) (2017). The Veteran contends that a clothing allowance for the year 2015 is warranted for his use of VA-issued back brace, rubbing cream, walking cane, and heating pad. See January 2016 Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9); July 2018 Appellant’s Brief. He maintains that his orthopedic appliances collectively “all contributed to [him] buying clothing” because of wear and tear on his clothing. See January 2016 Substantive Appeal. The Veteran reports, and the evidence of record reflects, that he has received a clothing allowance for the year 2014. See VETSNET Compensation and Pension Award Summary. Further, in his June 2015 Notice of Disagreement, he has indicated that his service-connected lumbar spine disability symptoms have continued since then, “that . . . cause[d] [him] to constantly use [his orthopedic appliances],” suggesting that the nature of the use of his back brace, rubbing cream, walking cane, and heating pad remained unchanged from the year 2014 when he received a clothing allowance for the same or similar orthopedic appliances. The Board has carefully reviewed the evidence of record and finds that the evidence supports the award of a clothing allowance for the year 2015 for the Veteran’s use of his orthopedic appliances. 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). It appears from the record that VA has previously recognized that the Veteran’s use of his orthopedic appliances can collectively wear or tear clothing given that the he received a clothing allowance based on the same or similar appliances in the year 2014. Of note, given that the evidence does not indicate that his VA-issued orthopedic appliances affect multiple, distinct types of article of clothing, or that they together wear or tear a single type of article of clothing at an increased rate of damage to the clothing, see 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(2)(3), additional clothing allowances are not warranted. 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). (Continued on the next page) The Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the matter here at issue. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that the criteria for a clothing allowance for 2015 are met. MARJORIE A. AUER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Kim, Associate Counsel