Citation Nr: 19167382 Decision Date: 08/29/19 Archive Date: 08/29/19 DOCKET NO. 15-06 615 DATE: August 29, 2019 ORDER Service connection for a neck disability is denied. VETERAN’S CONTENTIONS The Veteran is seeking service connection for a neck disability. He contends that his currently diagnosed cervical spine degenerative disc disease was caused by an injury he suffered in service, when he fell out of a truck and hit his head. He reports that he has had chronic neck pain ever since the time of this in-service injury. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s cervical spine degenerative disc disease neither had its onset in nor is otherwise related to his active duty service. See September 2018 VHA Expert Opinion. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a neck disability are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from June 1980 to June 1983 and in the Army National Guard in July 1994 and from February 2003 to September 2004. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee. Generally, in order to prove service connection, there must be competent, credible evidence of 1) a current disability, 2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and 3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. See, e.g., Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Pond v. West, 12 Vet. App. 341 (1999). The Veteran has a current diagnosis of cervical spine degenerative disc disease, which he contends was caused by a fall onto his head he suffered in service. See July 1994 Service Treatment Record (noting Veteran fell from a truck and struck his head); January 2016 VA Treatment Record (neck MRI finding multilevel degenerative spondylosis). Thus, the first two elements of service connection are satisfied. However, the evidence does not support a nexus between the Veteran’s current diagnosis and his in-service injury. The Veteran has been afforded one VA examination and one Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) expert opinion throughout the claim period. A September 2013 VA examination noted a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, but the examiner opined that this condition was not related to the Veteran’s in-service fall. He reasoned that a fall onto the back of the head was “very unlikely to have caused degenerative disc disease 30 years later.” However, the examiner did not address the Veteran’s report that he had experienced chronic neck pain from the time of his in-service injury to the present. For this reason, the Board found that the September 2013 examiner’s opinion was inadequate and in June 2018 requested a VHA expert opinion to clarify the medical evidence. In September 2018 a VHA expert rendered an opinion agreeing with the September 2013 VA examination and concluding that the Veteran’s current disability is not related to his in-service injury. The VHA expert addressed the Veteran’s report of chronic neck pain, observing that “neck stiffness is a vague and common symptom that can occur for numerous reasons, such as cervical muscular sprain, shoulder pain, headaches, even upper respiratory infections.” He further noted that cervical spondylosis “is a degenerative process” which “occurs normally as we age, and is quite common in a 54-year-old, [the Veteran’s] age at the time of diagnosis.” As clinical evidence did not support the Veteran’s testimony regarding a continuity of neck pain, the examiner determined that the current cervical spondylosis was unrelated to the injury sustained in service. The VHA expert’s opinion is competent, credible, and entitled to significant weight. The only evidence to the contrary is the Veteran’s assertion that his current neck disability is related to his in-service injury. Although the Veteran is competent to report his own symptoms and the Board finds him to be credible, as a lay person he is not competent to give an opinion as to the cause of his symptoms. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994). Here, despite the Veteran’s reports of neck pain over the years since his injury, the Board finds the clinical evidence showing the Veteran’s condition to be age-related to be the most probative evidence of record. Therefore, weighing the VHA expert’s opinion against the Veteran’s lay statements, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that the Veteran’s current cervical spine degenerative disc disease is not related to his in-service injury. Accordingly, service connection for a neck disability is not warranted. S. C. KREMBS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board P. Timmerman, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.