Citation Nr: 18143926 Decision Date: 10/22/18 Archive Date: 10/22/18 DOCKET NO. 15-02 533 DATE: October 22, 2018 ORDER As new and material evidence has not been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder injury, the request to reopen is denied. As new and material evidence has not been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for a low back injury, the request to reopen is denied.   FINDINGS OF FACT 1. A July 2010 statement of the case denied service connection for a left shoulder injury and service connection for a low back injury, and is final. 2. Evidence added to the record since the July 2010 statement of the case, when considered with previous evidence, does not relate to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the claims, or raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left shoulder injury and/or service connection for a low back injury. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. New and material evidence has not been submitted, and thus, the criteria for reopening the claim for service connection for a left shoulder injury have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7103, 7104; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156, 20.1100. 2. New and material evidence has not been submitted, and thus, the criteria for reopening the claim for service connection for a low back injury have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7103, 7104; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156, 20.1100. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from August 1986 to January 1987 with subsequent service in the Army National Guard. These matters come to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Atlanta, Georgia. 1. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder injury. 2. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for a low back injury As both issues are related, the Board will address them together. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a left shoulder injury and service connection for a low back injury. The claims of service connection for a left shoulder injury and for a low back injury were initially denied by way of a May 2009 rating decision. In response to the May 2009 rating decision, the Veteran submitted a timely notice of disagreement (NOD) in July 2009. Subsequently, the RO issued a statement of the case (SOC) in November 2014, again denying the Veteran’s claims. The claims were denied because the evidence considered did not demonstrate the existence of the claimed conditions via medical diagnoses, nor that any such conditions were incurred, or caused by a qualifying period of service. The Veteran was notified of the decision in a July 2010 letter, but did not submit a VA Form 9 or other correspondence containing the necessary information for an appeal within the expiration of the year following the May 2009 rating decision or within 60 days of the July 2010 SOC. Therefore, that decision is final. Generally, if a claim of entitlement to service connection has been previously denied and that decision has become final, the claim can be reopened and reconsidered only if new and material evidence is presented with respect to that claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5108 (2012). New evidence is defined as existing evidence not previously submitted to agency decision makers. Material evidence means evidence that, by itself or when considered with previous evidence of record, relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. New and material evidence can be neither cumulative nor redundant of the evidence previously of record and must raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (a) (2017). For the purpose of establishing whether new and material evidence has been received, the credibility of the evidence, but not its weight, is to be presumed. Justus v. Principi, 3 Vet. App. 510, 513 (1992). Here, the evidence received in connection with the Veteran's petitions to reopen includes service treatment records. Service treatment records (STRs) were received, but they were duplicates of STRs previously of record. The Veteran also submitted statements emphasizing his concern that he has ongoing low back and left shoulder conditions, which he feel are related to service. His statements, however, are duplicative of such statements previously of record. In short, the newly submitted evidence fails to show the existence of the claimed conditions via medical diagnoses, or that any such conditions were incurred, or caused by a qualifying period of service. (Continued on the next page)   Thus, for the foregoing reasons, the Board finds that the record does not contain new and material evidence to reopen the Veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder injury, or the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for a low back injury. Therefore, the petition to reopen the claims must be denied. In reaching this outcome, the Board’s decision here is limited to finding that new and material evidence has not been received. The Board has is not reaching any decision as to the ultimate merits of either claims should they subsequently be reopened. To this extent, the Veteran is in no way precluded from attempting to reopen the claims in the future should additional evidence be obtained. C. BOSELY Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Smith-Jennings, Associate Counsel