Citation Nr: 21075702 Decision Date: 12/21/21 Archive Date: 12/21/21 DOCKET NO. 13-03 328A DATE: December 21, 2021 ORDER An annual clothing allowance for calendar year 2012 for a right knee brace is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's right knee brace, worn to treat a service-connected disability, for the 2012 calendar year, tended to wear out his clothing. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an annual clothing allowance for calendar year 2012 for a right knee brace are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.810. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from May 1982 to July 2004. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on an appeal from a September 2012 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). The Veteran testified before the undersigned in a June 2021 Board hearing. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. Entitlement to an annual clothing allowance for calendar year 2012 for a right knee brace. The Veteran contends that he was issued a knee brace for his service-connected right knee disability which wore down his pants, including for the calendar year 2012. Therefore, he contends a clothing allowance is warranted. Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence is in relative equipoise, and thus resolving all doubt in the Veteran's favor, a clothing allowance is warranted for calendar year 2012. The law provides for payment of an annual clothing allowance for each veteran who, because of a service-connected disability, wears or uses a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including a wheelchair) which VA determines tends to wear out or tear the clothing of the veteran, or uses medication which a physician has prescribed for a skin condition which is due to a service-connected disability and VA determines causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outer garments. 38 U.S.C. § 1162. The implementing regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.810, provides, in pertinent part, that an annual clothing allowance may be granted when the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that a veteran, because of a service-connected disability or disabilities, wears or uses one qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) which tends to wear or tear clothing, or that a veteran uses medication prescribed by a physician for one skin condition, which is due to a service-connected disability, that causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outer garments. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1)(ii). A veteran is entitled to an annual clothing allowance for each such prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) or medication used by the veteran if each appliance or medication affects a distinct type of article of clothing or outergarment. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(2). Initially, the Veteran is service-connected for post-operative right knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with instability. Further, Available treatment records reflect that he was issued a knee disarticulation brace in July 2010. See Prosthetics Veterans Record. The Veteran was granted a clothing allowance for this brace for calendar year 2011. See May 2012 Notification Letter. However, the VAMC denied a clothing allowance for calendar year 2012, noting that the brace featured covered aluminum polycentric hinges with no exposed joints or surfaces which could cause damage or wear and tear to clothing. The VAMC also noted that the brace had a shelf-life of one year, and at the time of a February 2013 statement of the case, it had not been repaired or replaced since its issuance in July 2010. The clothing allowance section of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Handbook includes examples of items that tend to wear and tear clothing and items that do not. Some examples of items that do not tend to wear and tear clothing include soft orthotics, elastic/flexible braces, items with Velcro stays, hinged braces covered in fabric (metal stays covered) and braces with plastic stays covered in fabric. See VHA Handbook 1173.15, Section 8b (last accessed on December 13, 2021). The information contained in the handbook is for guidance purposes only; it is not dispositive of whether a specific item worn by a veteran actually causes wear and tear to his or her clothing. Id. In the instant case, the Veteran testified at his Board hearing that he wore the same brace in 2012 that he did in 2011, without indicating any need to replace or repair the device. He also testified that the brace caused wear and tear to his outerwear, specifically his pants. In this regard, the pants were tighter around the brace. Further, while he testified there was no metal sticking out or coming into contact with his pants, the brace did nonetheless wear his pants. The Veteran is competent to describe his observations regarding the impact of his support braces on his clothing. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469 (1994). In addition, the Board finds no reason to doubt the Veteran's assertion that his braces wore down his clothing, and his account is probative as to the question of whether knee braces tended to wear or tear clothing prematurely. In contrast, the VHA Handbook 1173.15 suggests that the Veteran's brace might have been designed and manufactured to minimize wear and tear to clothing, as noted above. While not binding on the Board, the VHA Handbook is still probative. Accordingly, based on the Veteran's competent and credible statement contrasting the Handbook, the evidence is at least in relative equipoise with respect to whether his knee braces tended to wear or tear his clothing during the relevant period on appeal. Thus, resolving the doubt in his favor, the Veteran is entitled to a clothing allowance for calendar year 2012. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.810. J. B. FREEMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Jonathan M. Estes The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.