Citation Nr: 21013304 Decision Date: 03/09/21 Archive Date: 03/09/21 DOCKET NO. 17-42 120 DATE: March 9, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence of record establishes that the Veteran was in need of regular aid and attendance due to service-connected disabilities. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(1); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.350(b)(3), 3.352, 4.3. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active duty service from March 1966 to March 1969. His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart. The Veteran died in August 2016, and the appellant is his surviving spouse. This appeal comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a rating decision dated May 2016 issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In its decision, the RO denied SMC based on aid and attendance/housebound. The Veteran timely appealed prior to his death. The appellant has been properly substituted. The appellant testified at a February 2021 video hearing with the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. This decision is being made under the “one-touch” program as it grants the benefit sought. A transcript of the hearing will be associated with the claims file at a later time. Entitlement to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance SMC is payable at the (l) rate if a Veteran, as the result of service-connected disability, is permanently bedridden or so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(b). The following will be accorded consideration in determining the need for regular aid and attendance: inability of claimant to dress or undress himself, or to keep himself ordinarily clean and presentable; frequent need of adjustment of any special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances which by reason of the particular disability cannot be done without aid (this will not include the adjustment of appliances which normal persons would be unable to adjust without aid, such as supports, belts, lacing at the back, etc.); inability of claimant to feed himself through loss of coordination of upper extremities or through extreme weakness; inability to attend to the wants of nature; or incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect the claimant from hazards or dangers incident to his daily environment. 38 C.F.R. § 3.352(a). It is not required that all the disabling conditions enumerated in this paragraph be found to exist before a favorable rating may be made. The particular personal functions which the Veteran is unable to perform should be considered in connection with his condition as a whole. It is only necessary that the evidence establish that the Veteran is so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance, not that there be a constant need. Id. At the time of his death, the Veteran was service-connected for diabetes mellitus, type II with erectile dysfunction and left eye diabetic retinopathy (40 percent), residuals of prostate cancer (40 percent), early diabetic nephropathy with hypertension (30 percent), bilateral leg peripheral neuropathy associated with diabetes mellitus, type II with erectile dysfunction and left eye diabetic retinopathy (10 percent for each leg), residuals of malaria (noncompensable), individual unemployability, and SMC under subsection (k) on account of loss of use of a creative organ. Service connection has been granted for the Veteran’s cause of death. The evidence shows that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities caused his death and the deterioration he experienced prior to his death. The Veteran’s death certificate lists the following as causes of death: prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus, diabetic nephropathy, and liver cancer. The evidence presented at the hearing establishes that, prior to his passing, the Veteran was so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities. SMC based on the need for aid and attendance is granted. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.352, 4.3. LAURA E. COLLINS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Bristor 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.