Citation Nr: 18154868 Decision Date: 12/04/18 Archive Date: 11/30/18 DOCKET NO. 11-00 860 DATE: December 4, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for right leg pain is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran does not have a distinct right leg disability separate from the already service-connected right knee, right ankle and right hip disabilities. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a disability claimed as right leg pain have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.310 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active military service from November 1968 to February 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a December 2009 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This matter was previously before the Board, most recently in September 2016, at which time the Board remanded the issue currently on appeal for additional development. The case has now been returned to the Board for further appellate action. The Veteran and his spouse testified at a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in January 2012. A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the claims file. In a September 2018 letter, the Veteran was advised that the VLJ no longer works at the Board and that he was entitled to another hearing. He was advised that he had 30 days to respond and if no response was received, it would be assumed that he does not want another hearing. He did not respond. The Board notes that the Veteran previously had claims on appeal for entitlement to service connection for left ankle disability, right ankle disability, right hip disability, left hip disability, and right knee disability, all to include as secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected left knee disability. Service connection was granted for these disabilities in a May 2017 rating decision, and these issues are no longer before the Board. Entitlement to service connection for right leg pain The Veteran contends that he has a right leg pain disability due to the altered gait from his service-connected left knee disability. The Veteran has not asserted that his claimed right leg pain disability is directly due to service. Service connection may be established for disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. §3.310(a) (2018). Further, a disability that is aggravated by a service-connected disability may be service connected to the degree that the aggravation is shown. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (2018); Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). In a May 2017 VA examination, the examiner confirmed a diagnosis of torn lateral cartilage of the right knee. In addition, subsequent VA examination has confirmed diagnoses of right hip and right ankle disabilities. VA medical center and private treatment records also contains substantial treatment and management of right knee and right hip disabilities, including arthritis. However, the relevant evidence fails to provide a separate diagnosed condition of the right leg. In a June 2017 addendum opinion, the VA examiner noted that the Veteran has been diagnosed with right hip, knee and ankle conditions but no other separate conditions of the right leg were known as this time. Here, the Veteran’s claimed right leg pain is already contemplated in the service-connected ratings for his right knee, ankle and hip, and there is no competent evidence of a right leg disability separate from those conditions that is related to a service-connected disability. To the extent that the Veteran contends he suffers from a right leg disability that is distinct from the right knee, ankle and hip disabilities, as a lay person, he is not competent to render such an opinion. In this regard, the etiology and diagnosis of leg pain requires medical testing and expertise to determine. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Board finds the opinion of the VA examiner to be significantly more probative than the Veteran’s assertions. Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim and that entitlement to service connection for a distinct right leg disability other than his right knee, ankle and hip, is denied.   In reaching the above conclusion, the Board has considered the applicability of the benefit of the doubt doctrine. However, as the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim, that doctrine is not applicable in the instant appeal. 38 U.S.C. §5107(b) (2012); Ortiz v. Principi, 274 F.3d 1361, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2001); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55-56 (1990). K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Rachel Mamis