Citation Nr: 22016845 Decision Date: 03/23/22 Archive Date: 03/23/22 DOCKET NO. 19-22 392A DATE: March 23, 2022 ORDER Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2015 for bilateral knee braces is granted. Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2016 for bilateral knee braces is granted. Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2017 for bilateral knee braces is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is prescribed the use of knee braces for his service-connected knee disability, which wears and tears his outer garments. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Resolving doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for one annual clothing allowance for 2015 for knee braces have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810. Resolving doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for one annual clothing allowance for 2016 for knee braces have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810. Resolving doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for one annual clothing allowance for 2017 for knee braces have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1972 to October 1976. The decision on appeal was issued in August 2018 by a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN), and constitutes initial decisions which denied the Veteran's claim for clothing allowances in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2015, 2016, and 2017 for bilateral knee braces is granted. 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 which VA determines tends to wear out or tear the clothing, or uses prescribed medication for a service-connected skin disability which causes irreparable damage to the outer garments. 38 U.S.C. § 1162. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.810, a veteran is found to be eligible for an annual clothing allowance when (i) A VA examination or VA medical report establishes that the veteran, because of a service-connected disability due to loss or loss of use of a hand or foot uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance which tends to wear or tear clothing; (ii) the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that a veteran, because of a service-connected disability, wears or uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) which tends to wear or tear clothing; or (iii) the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that a veteran, because of a service-connected disability, uses medication prescribed by a physician for a skin condition that causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outer garments. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1). When such determinations are appealed to the Board, the Board can serve as the VHA designee to adjudicate whether a clothing allowance is warranted. A second clothing allowance is potentially available for a single type of garment if a veteran uses more than one prosthetic or orthopedic appliance, medication for more than one skin condition, or an appliance and a medication, and the appliances or medications (i) satisfy the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1); and (ii) together tend to wear or tear a single garment or irreparably damage a type of outer garment at an increased rate of damage to the clothing due to a second appliance or medication. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(3). A veteran may not receive more than one clothing allowance for a single appliance, even if the appliance damages more than one type of clothing. See 76 Fed. Reg. 70883 (November 16, 2011). (Continued on the next page) The AOJ denied the claims on the basis that the knee braces issued during 2015-2017 do not cause additional wear and tear to the Veteran's outer garments. The Veteran's notice of disagreement indicates he uses the same brace, with exposed metal, that he used in years prior to 2015. Although new braces were supplied in 2015 that VHA states do not cause wear and tear, the Veteran states that the constant rubbing of both his old and new braces damages his clothing. VHA has not examined the Veteran's clothing and he is competent to report his lay observations. Whether his outer garments have additional wear and tear is within the competence of the Veteran to observe. The Veteran's knee braces are prescribed for a service-connected disability and, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, are found to tend to wear and tear the Veteran's clothing. The Veteran thus qualifies for an award of a clothing allowance for 2015, 2016, and 2017 for the bilateral knee braces, and a grant of the benefit sought is warranted. MICHAEL E. KILCOYNE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Uller, Associate Counsel 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.