Citation Nr: 18140475 Decision Date: 10/03/18 Archive Date: 10/03/18 DOCKET NO. 16-03 913A DATE: October 3, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction, to include as secondary to treatment for service-connected prostate cancer is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, erectile dysfunction is related to his service-connected residuals of prostate cancer. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for erectile dysfunction are met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from January 1969 to November 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2015 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board acknowledges that the Veteran submitted a RAMP opt-in election form in May 2018, however, his appeal had already been activated by the Board at that time and thus, was no longer eligible for the RAMP program. 1. Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction, to include as secondary to treatment for service-connected prostate cancer. The Veteran asserts that his erectile dysfunction was caused by the treatment for his service-connected prostate cancer disability and/or the disability itself. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty, in the active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. Service connection may also be granted for a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310; see also Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). At a VA examination in April 2015, the Veteran reported that he had issues with losing erections but was able to recover and climax without medication. The examiner did not find a current diagnosis of erectile dysfunction, and as a result, did not provide any etiological opinion. Since the April 2015 VA examination, the Veteran has been diagnosed with erectile dysfunction. See February 2017 correspondence from Dr. A.C. In a January 2016 opinion, the Veteran’s private urologist, Dr. V.C., reported that the Veteran has worsening erectile dysfunction secondary to his radiation therapy for prostate cancer essentially because there has been a continuous decline in the Veteran’s function since his radiation treatment. In a May 2018 correspondence, the Veteran’s private primary care physician, who treats the Veteran for erectile dysfunction. Dr. A.H. noted the Veteran’s history of prostate cancer and treatment which included 45 radiation treatments beginning in 2012, and onset of erectile dysfunction in 2015. Dr. A.H. stated that erectile dysfunction is a common sequela of the radiation treatment the Veteran had for his prostate cancer. There is competent evidence of current erectile dysfunction. The two private nexus opinions from Dr. V.C. and Dr. A.H. are favorable and highly probative of whether the Veteran’s erectile dysfunction was caused by his treatment for his service-connected prostate cancer. Resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for erectile dysfunction is warranted. D. JOHNSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E. Mortimer, Associate Counsel