Citation Nr: 18145668
Decision Date: 10/29/18	Archive Date: 10/29/18

DOCKET NO. 13-19 968
DATE:	October 29, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for asthma, to include as secondary to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s current asthma was caused or aggravated by his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for secondary service connection for asthma are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310(a).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1967 to October 1968, including service in the republic of Vietnam.
In an August 2015 decision, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for service connection.  The Veteran appealed the Board’s August 2015 decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In a July 2017 Order, the Court granted a Joint Motion of the parties to vacate the Board’s decision and remanded the case to the Board for action consistent with the terms of the Joint Motion.
1. Entitlement to service connection for asthma, to include as secondary to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder
The Veteran claims entitlement to service connection for asthma, to include as secondary to his service connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Specifically, the Veteran contends that his current asthma is aggravated by his PTSD.  
Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. That an injury or disease occurred in service is not enough; there must be chronic disability resulting from that injury or disease.  In order to prevail on the issue of service connection there must be competent evidence of a current disability; medical evidence, or in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service occurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and competent evidence of a nexus between an in-service injury or disease and the current disability.  See Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
In addition, service connection may be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury.  38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a).  Secondary service connection may also be established for a nonservice-connected disability which is aggravated by a service-connected disability.  In such an instance, the Veteran may be compensated for the degree of disability over and above the degree of disability existing prior to the aggravation.  38 C.F.R. § 3.310(b); see Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995). 
In October 2018, the Board obtained a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical opinion regarding whether any causal relationship exists between the Veteran’s asthma and service-connected PTSD.  After review of the Veteran’s claims file, the specialist opined that the PTSD is more likely than not the aggravated the Veteran’s asthma beyond its natural progression. The examiner reasoned that increased stress associated with PTSD is known to cause or aggravate asthma. 
There are other medical opinions to the contrary; but, in light of the favorable VHA opinion, the probative evidence regarding causal nexus is at least in equipoise.  Resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for asthma, as secondary to service-connected PTSD, is warranted.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.159, 3.310.
 
D. Martz Ames
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. Riordan, Associate Counsel