Citation Nr: 20005455 Decision Date: 01/24/20 Archive Date: 01/22/20 DOCKET NO. 11-05 573A DATE: January 24, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, to include chloracne as due to herbicide exposure, is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s skin condition is not related to military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, to include chloracne as due to herbicide exposure, are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107, 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from December 1965 to October 1967, including service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2010 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Houston, Texas. This matter was previously before the Board in April 2018. At that time, the Board remanded the matter for a VA examination of the Veteran’s skin. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination for his skin in March 2019 and, accordingly, the Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand instructions. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The Veteran’s Contentions The Veteran contends that the acne-like sores on his face have been diagnosed as chloracne and are due to his exposure to herbicides in Vietnam. Entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, to include chloracne as due to herbicide exposure Generally, service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from a disease or injury incurred in active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection requires evidence of a current disability, an in-service incurrence, disease or injury and a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service incurrence, disease or injury. Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). To deny a claim on its merits, the evidence must preponderate against the claim. Alemany v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 518 (1996). If a Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during active service, presumptive service connection is warranted for certain specified diseases. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. A Veteran with service in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962 and ending on May 7, 1975 will be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent during such service unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307. The current list of diseases subject to presumptive service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e) include skin diseases of chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, or other acneform diseases consistent with chloracne that become manifest to a degree of 10 percent within one year of exposure. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(ii). Here, the Veteran served in the Republic of Vietnam in 1966 and 1967 and his exposure to herbicide agents is thus presumed. The Board finds no evidence, however, that the Veteran had chloracne that manifested to a degree of 10 percent or more within a year of the Veteran’s exposure to herbicide agents. Rather, the only diagnosis for chloracne in the record is from May 2001. To the extent that the Veteran contends that he had chloracne within the applicable timeframe, the Board finds no evidence in the record indicating that he is qualified to make such a diagnosis. See Jandreau v. Nicolson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Jones v. West, 12 Vet. App. 460, 465 (1999). Based on the foregoing, entitlement to service connection for chloracne as due to herbicide exposure is not warranted. The Board must also consider the Veteran’s entitlement to service connection for a skin disability on a direct basis. See Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1042 (Fed. Cir. 1994); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). The March 2019 VA examination reflects a current diagnosis of rosacea, establishing the first element for direct service connection. The Veteran is also able to establish the second element as his service treatment records reflect treatment for urticaria on his arms and chest in August 1967. On the nexus issue, the March 2019 VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s skin condition was less likely than not incurred in or caused by service. The examiner noted that the skin condition treated in service was limited to his chest and arms and, unlike his current rosacea, did not involve the face. The examiner relied on the Veteran’s report that the onset of his facial rash was in 1972, 5 years after his discharge from service, and noted that there was no relationship between the urticaria noted in service and his current rosacea. According to the examiner, the in-service urticaria was a transient condition that resolved with treatment. The Board finds the opinion of the March 2019 VA examiner probative and entitled to weight. The examiner considered the Veteran’s reports, reviewed the records, examined the Veteran and provided a rationale for the opinion that the Veteran’s current skin condition was not related to service. See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 302-04 (2008) (holding that it is the factually accurate, fully articulated, sound reasoning for the conclusion that contributes to the probative value of a medical opinion). The only contradictory opinion in the record is the Veteran’s contention that his skin condition is related to service. As noted, there is no indication in the record that the Veteran is medically qualified to offer an opinion on the etiology of his condition. Accordingly, the preponderance of the evidence weighs in favor of finding no nexus between the Veteran’s service and his current skin disability. As the preponderance of the evidence is against service connection, the benefit of the doubt rule does not apply. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Based on the foregoing, the claim of entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, to include chloracne as due to herbicide exposure, is denied. S.C. KREMBS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Snyder, 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.