Citation Nr: A25106928 Decision Date: 12/11/25 Archive Date: 12/11/25 DOCKET NO. 250123-530202 DATE: December 11, 2025 ORDER Entitlement to a finding of total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to residuals of prostatitis alone is granted. Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on statutory housebound status is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Throughout the period on appeal, the Veteran's service-connected prostatitis residuals alone precluded gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience. 2. Throughout the period on appeal, TDIU due to residuals of prostatitis alone is a single service-connected disability rated 100 percent disabling; the Veteran had additional service-connected disabilities totalling a combined 60 percent or more. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Throughout the period on appeal, the criteria for entitlement to TDIU based on prostatitis residuals alone are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.3, 4.7, 3.340, 4.16, 4.18, 4.19. 2. Throughout the period on appeal, the criteria for entitlement to SMC based on statutory housebound status have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.350, 4.25. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from May 1989 to May 1992. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeal (Board) on appeal from a July 2024 higher-level review (HLR) decision of an agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The HLR decision was based on the record in the January 2024 rating decision. 38 C.F.R. § 3.2601. In the January 2025 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement (NOD)), the Veteran elected the Evidence Submission docket. 38 C.F.R. § 20.202. The Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the AOJ decision on appeal, set by the January 2024 decision, and evidence submitted by the Veteran or their representative with, or within 90 days from receipt of, the VA Form 10182. 38 C.F.R. § 20.303. The Veteran's representative timely submitted a statement in support of his case containing argument, but no additional evidence. TDIU VA will grant TDIU when the evidence shows that a Veteran is precluded, by reason of service-connected disabilities, from obtaining and maintaining any form of gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience. See 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16. TDIU benefits are granted only when it is established that the service-connected disabilities are so severe, standing alone, as to prevent the retaining of gainful employment. In determining whether an appellant is entitled to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability, neither the appellant's nonservice-connected disabilities nor advancing age may be considered. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341 (a), 4.19. Factors to be considered are the Veteran's education, employment history, and vocational attainment. See Ferraro v. Derwinski,1 Vet. App. 326, 332 (1991). Since September 17, 2020, the Veteran has been in receipt of TDIU due to his combined service-connected disabilities precluding substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). His combined disability rating is 90 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (70 percent disabling), prostatitis residuals (60 percent disabling), and erectile dysfunction (0 percent disabling). The Veteran's representative argues that the Veteran is precluded from employment due to residuals of prostatitis alone, or alternatively, due to PTSD alone. In his December 2022 TDIU form, the Veteran reported he was unable to work due to his residuals of prostatitis. He said he had to take too many breaks, could not control his bladder, and must always be near a bathroom. He stated that he has to change the absorbent material he wears at least 5 to 6 times during the day. He listed 2019 as the date he became too disabled to work, and reported he last worked in 2016. He reported his last work was as a manager at copy store and a truck driver. He had some training as a mechanic and his highest level of education was a junior in college. Medical records show that the Veteran reported in a June 2022 VA examination that his prostatitis residuals result in voiding dysfunction characterized by requiring absorbent material that must be changed more than 4 times per day, daytime voiding interval between 1 and 2 hours, and nighttime awakening to void 5 or more times. He also reported that he had to quit his job as a truck driver due to having to stop frequently to use the restroom. Subsequent medical records show no improvement of his symptoms. In May 2023, he reported to his VA medical provider that he used adult diapers 5 times a day. In addition to needing to be near a bathroom at all times, the Veteran and his partner submitted 2023 statements that he sometimes needs to change his clothes due to not making it to the restroom in time. A private March 2023 vocational opinion noted that the Veteran had no transferable skills, and opined that the Veteran's need to be near a bathroom at all times precluded him from any employment available to him given his education and past work experiences. The opinion stated that "going back and forth to the bathroom more than once an hour and needing to change undergarments and sometimes whole outfits multiple times per day would lead [Veteran] to being off task more than ten minutes per hour and sometimes more than twenty minutes per hours when needing to clean up and change his outfit. Clearly at 10 or 20 minutes per hour off task [Veteran] would exceed employers' time off task limitations. His productivity and time off task would lead to his termination at any workplace, including sedentary work sites, due to his excessive need to use the rest room." Given the frequency of his urinary frequency as discussed above, the Board finds that the Veteran would be unable to obtain or retain employment due to his frequent need to take restroom breaks and needing to change his absorbent material multiple times during a normal workday. Resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Veteran's service-connected residuals of prostatitis have precluded him from maintaining any kind of substantially gainful employment for the entirety of the appeal period since September 17, 2020. Accordingly, TDIU is warranted based on prostatitis residuals alone. SMC SMC at the "statutory housebound" rate is payable where a veteran has a single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent and has additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent, separate and distinct from the 100 percent service-connected disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i). As the above finding of total disability is based on a single, service-connected condition, the Veteran meets the basic eligibility criteria for consideration of SMC. Akles v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 118 (1991); Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280 (2008); Buie v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 242, 250 (2011). Since September 17, 2020, the Veteran's other service-connected disabilities included only PTSD (70 percent disabling) and erectile dysfunction (0 percent). These combine to a 70 percent rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.25. Accordingly, the criteria for an award of SMC at the housebound rate are met since September 17, 2020. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board L.M. Barletta 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.