Citation Nr: 18155542
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/04/18

DOCKET NO. 12-25 042
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a vision condition is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served active duty in the United States Air Force from May 1965 to May 1969.
In August 2017, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Travel Board hearing.  A copy of the transcript has been associated with the claims file.
In November 2017, the Board remanded the appeal for further development.
Service connection for a vision condition is remanded.
The Veteran contends that his vision condition is due to his service-connected diabetes.
In a February 2018 VA examination, the examiner determined that the Veteran’s vision disability was not related to his service-connected diabetes.  The examiner explained that the Veteran did not currently have any vision disability aside from very early stage cataracts, which are a normal aging phenomenon and not the type known to be caused by diabetes.  The examiner also stated that the claimed condition, which clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service, was not aggravated beyond its natural progression by an in-service event, injury or illness.
The Board notes that VA regulations pertaining to secondary service connection require a determination of whether the Veteran’s claimed disability is proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected disability.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310.  While the examiner provided an aggravation opinion, the aggravation standard used does not apply to secondary service connection.  Rather, the opinion invokes the higher standard of aggravation of a condition which existed prior to service, which has neither been claimed by the Veteran or established by the evidence.  Therefore, a remand is necessary to determine whether the Veteran’s vision disability was aggravated by the Veteran’s service-connected diabetes.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Send the Veteran’s claims file, to include a copy of this remand, to an appropriate examiner for an addendum opinion to determine the nature and etiology of his vision condition.  The examiner shall consider all other medical records associated with this file during review.  Schedule the Veteran for examination only if the examiner determines that the examination of the Veteran is necessary.  The examiner is asked to offer an opinion on the following:
Whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s vision condition is aggravated by his service-connected diabetes.
In rendering the requested opinion, the examiner must consider and discuss all pertinent medical and other objective evidence, as well as all lay assertions, to include any assertions as to onset and continuity of symptoms.  The examiner should explain the medical basis for the conclusions reached.

 
JENNIFER HWA
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Ford, Associate Counsel