Citation Nr: 18147243 Decision Date: 11/02/18 Archive Date: 11/02/18 DOCKET NO. 16-12 503 DATE: November 2, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for vertebral disc disorder is denied. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral leg and feet numbness is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s vertebral disc disorder was not caused by military service. 2. The Veteran’s bilateral leg and feet numbness was not caused by military service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for vertebral disc disorder have not been satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 2. The criteria for service connection for bilateral leg and feet numbness have not been satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from January 1989 to April 1990. He also had periods of Active Duty for Training (ADT) for boot camp and Advanced Individual Training. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a September 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a hearing with the undersigned in March 2018. A transcript of that hearing has been added to the Veteran’s file. Service Connection Generally, to establish service connection, a claimant must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an 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. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303; see also Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). A disability that is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected. 38 C.F.R. §3.310. Service connection may additionally be granted for disability resulting from injury incurred in or aggravated while performing ADT or Inactive Duty for Training or a disease incurred or aggravated while performing ADT. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101(24), 106. 1. Service connection for vertebral disc disorder The Veteran was diagnosed with a vertebral disc disorder of the cervical spine in 2011. In November 2011 he reported his neck pain began approximately 3 months prior. According to an April 2018 letter from his private physician, he was first diagnosed with a lumbar spine disc disorder in Spring of 2016, although he gave a history of back pain on and off for years. The Veteran asserts that he originally hurt his back during basic training around 1984. Complete treatment records and service records for that year were unable to be located, which the Veteran asserts would show complaints of back pain. The Veteran entered active duty in 1989 and stated that his back began hurting when he was in airborne school. He was seen during this time for knee pain but his service treatment records do not document any complaints or treatment for back pain. The Veteran had a Medical Board review for his knee to determine if he could continue his service. During this examination, the Veteran having had recurrent back pain and evaluation of the spine was reported as normal. The Veteran submitted lay statements in March and April 2016 from a fellow soldier that stated that the Veteran complained of pain in his back during his active duty service and that the Veteran went to sick call for this pain. Although the fellow soldier is competent to report on such complaints, as there is no record of the Veteran going to sick call for back pain and service treatment records are available for this period, the Board finds the lay statements lacks credibility as to the reports of in-service treatment. The Veteran went to sick call for knee pain multiple times and did not report any back pain at any time he was seeking treatment for the knee pain in service. The Veteran’s spouse testified at the hearing that the Veteran had complained of neck and back pain when they met around 1995. The Veteran asserted at the hearing that he had consistent back pain from the time of service to the present. The Veteran submitted to a February 2016 VA examination and the examiner opined that the spine disabilities were less likely than not related to service due to the length of time between service and the diagnosis, and the lack of complaints of back pain. The examiner reported that the Veteran failed to report any pain or injury when he reported to an orthopedic doctor while in service, and there was no documentation of any spine injury until October 2011. The Veteran’s private doctor stated that this injury was not a new injury, but was unable to state how old the injury might be. Although the Veteran is competent to report a history of back pain, both his service treatment records and private treatment records after service show a lack of complaints or treatment for back pain until 2011. The Veteran’s current reports of back pain since boot camp, to include continuing back pain since active duty, are found to be lacking credibility in light of his reports of not having had recurrent back pain in June 1988 (Army enlistment examination) and at the time of his Medical Board during active duty. These reports of medical history are highly probative as they were made more contemporaneous to the time period in question and for the specific purpose of identifying disability. The Board finds the VA medical opinion and records more probative than the Veteran and lay witness statements as they are more consistent with the other evidence of record, namely the service examinations and reports of medical history. The preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has a vertebral disc disorder related to an in-service injury, event, or disease or caused or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Thus, the claim for service connection is denied. 2. Service connection for bilateral leg and feet numbing The Veteran asserts that he has bilateral leg and feet numbness as a result of his vertebral disc disorder and that he had numbness while in service. The Veteran testified at the hearing that he had numbness in his legs and feet during service. However, there are no complaints or treatments for leg or feet numbness in the service treatment records. During his Medical Board, the Veteran denied foot trouble, neuritis, and paralysis. Neurological evaluation was reportedly normal. Thus, any current reports of numbness during service are found to be lacking credibility as they are inconsistent with the Veteran’s in-service statements. There are no other reports of lower extremity numbness until the February 2016 VA examination. The Veteran reported mild numbness in his left lower extremity but not his right lower extremity. This was found to be left lower extremity radiculopathy from the sciatic nerve. The Veteran’s private treatment records noted bilateral pain in both legs in June 2017. The Board finds the medical opinion (attributing the complaints to nerve impingement from his back disability) and lack of credible complaints or treatment of bilateral leg and feet numbness until years after service to be more probative than the Veteran’s more recent lay statements. The preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has bilateral leg and feet numbness related to an in-service injury, event, or disease or caused or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a), (d). Thus, the claim for service connection on a direct basis is denied. The Board finds that secondary service for bilateral leg and feet numbness due to vertebral disc disorder is not warranted. The evidence indicates the Veteran’s bilateral leg and feet numbness is related to his vertebral disc disorder, which is not service-connected. Therefore, service connection for bilateral leg and feet numbness cannot be awarded on a secondary basis. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. Nathan Kroes Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Megan Shuster, Law Clerk