Citation Nr: 18156761 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/10/18 DOCKET NO. 14-28 860A DATE: December 11, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the competent and credible evidence weighs against finding that the Veteran’s right knee disability, diagnosed as osteoarthritis, was incurred in or aggravated by service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria to establish service connection for a right knee disability have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1991 to November 1995. The matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2011 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Columbia, South Carolina, which denied service connection for arthritis with meniscal tear of the right knee. In April 2018, the Board reopened and remanded the Veteran’s claim to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for further action consistent with the Board’s remand directives. The claim is back before the Board for further appellate proceedings. Service Connection The Veteran asserts that his right knee disability originated during his time in service. To establish entitlement to VA disability compensation, a veteran must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease; and, (3) a causal link between the present disability and the injury or disease incurred or aggravated in-service (“nexus” requirement). Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that a disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). A veteran is competent to testify as to facts he or she personally observed or described; this includes recalling what he personally felt, saw, smelled, heard, or tasted. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469 (1994). However, a veteran is not competent to offer opinions on complex medical matters without specialized education, training, or experience. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159; see Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Board can may favor one medical opinion over another if it offers an adequate statement of reasons and bases. D’Aries v. Peak, 22 Vet. App. 97, 107 (2008). Right Knee Disability The Veteran offered lay evidence of a right knee injury in service. The Veteran contends that he suffered a right knee injury during a forced march at Camp Lejeune. However, the record does not reflect such an injury. See VA examination of September 2018. The Veteran complained of right knee pain to medical personnel while stationed at Camp Lejeune in January of 1994. The clinician noted that the Veteran maintained a normal gait and diagnosed the injury as a right calf strain/hamstring. No other complaints of right knee pain or injury appear during service. Neither the Veteran’s enlistment exam nor his separation exam note any right knee issues. The record contains a January 2013 diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees. The clinician opined that the condition “may be a consequence/related to his physical activity related to previous military service.” See Medical Treatment Record January 2013. The clinician speculates that the Veteran’s arthritis may be related to physical activity in service but does not refer to any specific events in service that support the conclusion. No additional positive evidence of nexus between the Veteran’s current right knee disability and an in-service event is contained within the evidentiary record. The September 2018 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s current right knee symptoms and diagnosis are less likely than not related to his time in service. The examiner reviewed the entire record, including the Board remand and the Veteran’s lay statements. The examiner noted that the sole example in the record of a right lower extremity complaint was calf/hamstring injury in 1994. The examiner opined that the opinion stating the Veteran’s knee condition may be related to service is mere speculation, not substantiated by the service treatment records or private records. The examiner further opined that military service alone does not predispose one to developing a degenerative knee condition. The examiner did observe that the Veteran’s excessive weight combined with the documented varus deformity of his knees would increase his risk of such a condition. The examiner cited to the Journal of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International to support her opinion. The September 2018 examiner opined that the Veteran’s right knee disability was less likely than not related to his time in service. This mirrors the negative nexus opinion provided by the February 2013 VA examiner. The September 2018 VA examiner determined that the January 2013 opinion is mere speculation, and not based on any evidence of record. The Board agrees that because the February 2013 examiner’s opinion was couched in speculative language, it is entitled to no probative weight. In contrast, the September 2018 examiner based her opinion on review of the entire record and supported the opinion with reference to medical authority. The negative opinions, when combined, are given substantial weight when compared to the other speculative opinion, which is given no weight. Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the competent and credible evidence weighs against finding that the Veteran’s right knee disability was incurred in or aggravated by service. A grant for service connection for a right knee disability is denied. DONNIE R. HACHEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD D.J. Ballinger, Law Clerk