Citation Nr: 18144721 Decision Date: 10/25/18 Archive Date: 10/25/18 DOCKET NO. 14-43 195 DATE: October 25, 2018 ORDER Service connection for hypertension is denied. Service connection for left and right lower peripheral vascular disease is denied. Service connection for kidney disease is denied. Service connection for cerebrovascular accident (claimed as stroke) is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Hypertension was not incurred during or aggravated by the Veteran’s Honorable period of military service. 2. Peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke was not incurred during or aggravated by the Veteran’s Honorable period of military service; and these disorders are not secondary to a service-connected disability. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for hypertension are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 2. The criteria for service connection for left and right lower peripheral vascular disease are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. 3. The criteria for service connection for kidney disease are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. 4. The criteria for service connection for cerebrovascular accident/stroke are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served Honorably on active duty from September 5, 1972 to January 29, 1975; and Dishonorably from January 30, 1975 to June 15, 1978. The case is on appeal from a September 2012 rating decision. Although the Veteran’s DD-214 reflects Dishonorable service from January 30, 1975 to June 15, 1978, in an Administrative Decision dated in August 1986, VA decided that the conditional discharge for the period of honorable service from September 5, 1972 to September 4, 1975 is considered to have been under honorable conditions; thus, the Veteran is not barred from VA benefits from September 5, 1972 to September 4, 1975, including any disability determined to be incurred or aggravated during that time period. The Board has limited the discussion below to the relevant evidence required to support its finding of fact and conclusion of law, as well as to the specific contentions regarding the case as raised directly by the Veteran and those reasonably raised by the record. See Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2015); Robinson v. Peake, 21 Vet. App. 545, 552 (2008). Service Connection Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. “To establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran must show: “(1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service”—the so-called “nexus” requirement.” Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (quoting Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). Service connection may also be granted for a disability that is proximately due to, or aggravated by, service-connected disease or injury. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. 1. Service connection for hypertension The Veteran seeks service connection for hypertension and, in turn, associated kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease, and cerebrovascular accident (stroke). He asserts that he was diagnosed with hypertension during his Honorable period of service while in Germany. Service treatment records (STRs), which include those compiled in Germany, do not show that the Veteran was diagnosed with or treated for hypertension at any time during service. This is highly probative evidence against the claim. In fact, during periodic physicals and at his separation examination he denied having high blood pressure (at that time, providing factual evidence against his own current claim), and examination findings were normal. The Board thus finds that contrary to the Veteran’s assertion, he was not diagnosed with hypertension while in Germany (or anywhere else during his applicable service). Had he been, there surely would be some sort of evidence of this in the STRs, which are expansive. Instead, not only is there no diagnostic or treatment record of hypertension during service, but the Veteran himself repeatedly denied it during his military physicals. This too weighs against the claim. In this regard the Board notes that there is a record of “borderline cardiac size,” but this was in February 1976, during the Veteran’s dishonorable period of service; and that period of service is barred to VA benefits. See VA’s August 1986 Administrative Decision (“The discharge for the last period of service from 9-5-75 to 6-15-78 is considered to be a bar to VA benefits). In any event, even if the Board were to use this evidence, it does not support the Veteran’s claim that this problem at issue began in 1976. As for a disorder diagnosed after service, there is no medical evidence that relates the Veteran’s hypertension back to service; and no medical provider has suggested that the Veteran did in fact have hypertension during service. The Board accordingly finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for hypertension and the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine does not apply. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 4.3. 2. Service connection for peripheral vascular disease 3. Service connection for kidney disease 4. Service connection for stroke As for the claims for peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke, the evidence is entirely against these claims. There is no record of these disorders during service, and no post-service provider has suggested that the Veteran suffer from these disorders during service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Moreover, while the Veteran’s kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke may in fact be due to his hypertension, his hypertension is not service related. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. The preponderance of the evidence is thus against these claims on a direct basis and under the propounded secondary theory of entitlement. Service connection for kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke is therefore not warranted and the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine does not apply. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 4.3. John Crowley Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD P. Childers, Counsel