Citation Nr: 18152226 Decision Date: 11/21/18 Archive Date: 11/21/18 DOCKET NO. 14-30 796 DATE: November 21, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for residuals of cold weather injury, left foot pain and problems, is denied. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of cold weather injury, right foot pain and problems, is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim that his current complaints regarding his left foot are due to residuals of cold weather injury from active service. 2. The preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim that his current complaints regarding his right foot are due to residuals of cold weather injury from active service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for residuals of cold weather injury, left foot pain and problems, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101(24), 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 4.104 Diagnostic Code (DC) 7122. 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for residuals of cold weather injury, right foot pain and problems, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101(24), 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 4.104 DC 7122. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS Service Connection The Veteran had active military service from April 1978 to February 1986. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2014 rating decision of the VA Regional Office (RO) in Lincoln, Nebraska. Service connection may be granted for a current disability arising from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131. Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Service connection generally requires (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The Veteran contends that he suffers from residuals of cold weather injury to his left and right feet that arose during active service. The Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) are silent for complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of cold weather-related injuries or pain concerning the Veteran’s feet. The Veteran’s August 1987 separation examination report was negative for complaints of foot injuries or abnormalities or any mention of cold weather injuries. While the Veteran’s post-service VA medical records do reflect complaints of foot pain when the Veteran became cold, such records are negative for any opinion associating the Veteran’s symptoms with cold weather injuries from his active service. See August 2013 VA treatment records. In the Veteran’s October 2018 appellate brief, the Veteran’s representative argues that because the Veteran is service connected for residuals from cold weather injuries for his left and right hands, that the Veteran’s feet could have been injured at the same time. As the representative admits in the brief, however, the Veteran’s STRs are devoid of any documentation of such a condition and “CAPRI notes did not discuss cold injuries.” In short, there is no competent evidence in the noted records to support the Veteran’s contentions. During the Veteran’s March 2014 VA examination for cold injury residuals, the examiner concluded that the Veteran’s current lower extremity symptoms were more likely due to peripheral vascular disease than to cold weather injury residuals. The examiner based their opinion on the fact that the Veteran presented with multiple risk factors for peripheral vascular disease. These included a history of coronary artery disease, tobacco use, diagnoses for hypertension and hyperlipidemia, and the fact that the Veteran is male, all of which are well-documented risk factors for peripheral vascular disease. Based on this evidence, the examiner concluded that the Veteran’s symptoms were more likely due to peripheral artery disease than to residuals of cold weather injury. The Veteran asserts that his symptoms are due to residuals of cold weather injury and that they likely occurred at the same time as the injuries to his hands, which are service connected. In considering the Veteran’s contentions, the Board notes that he is competent to observe lay symptoms but does not have the training or credentials to provide a competent opinion as to a diagnosis or the onset date of such diagnosis. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007). His lay contentions are thus of markedly lower probative value than, and are outweighed by, the March 2014 VA examination opinion. As the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, the Veteran’s claims for entitlement to service connection for residuals from cold weather injuries of the left foot and the right foot must be denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b). A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Evan Thomas Hicks