Citation Nr: 18158345
Decision Date: 12/14/18	Archive Date: 12/14/18

DOCKET NO. 14-04 518
DATE:	December 14, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for enlarged tonsils is denied.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran has not had a diagnosis of enlarged tonsils at any point during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing thereof.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to service connection for enlarged tonsils have not been met.  38 U.S.C. § 1110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from October 2002 to June 2003 and May 2005 to June 2006.  
This 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).  The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a travel Board hearing in October 2017.  A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the file.
Enlarged Tonsils
The Veteran contends that he has enlarged tonsils as a result of service.
The question for the Board is whether the Veteran has a current disability that began during service or is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury or disease.
The Board concludes that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of enlarged tonsils and has not had one at any time during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing of the claim.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 294 (2013); McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a), (d).
At his October 2017 Board hearing, the Veteran stated that the first time he learned of his enlarged tonsils was during a VA sleep study.  However, the sleep study report makes no mention of enlarged tonsils or adenoids.  
The August 2018 VA examiner evaluated the Veteran and determined that he did not have a diagnosis of enlarged tonsils.  The examiner also stated that there was no evidence of enlarged tonsils in the Veteran's service treatment records.  Further, despite treatment from June 2002 to November 2010, VA treatment records do not contain a diagnosis of enlarged tonsils.




While the Veteran is competent to report medical diagnoses received, the Veteran's statements are contradicted by the reports of the same examinations.  Consequently, the Board gives more probative weight to the medical reports.


 
MICHAEL KILCOYNE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J. Uller, Associate Counsel