Citation Nr: 20007979 Decision Date: 01/30/20 Archive Date: 01/30/20 DOCKET NO. 16-54 472 DATE: January 30, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder disorder is denied. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The preponderance of the evidence of record is against finding that the Veteran’s right shoulder disorder is due to or aggravated by his military service. 2. The preponderance of the evidence of record is against finding that the Veteran’s low back disorder is due to or aggravated by his military service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for a right shoulder disorder are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.309. 2. The criteria for service connection for a low back disorder are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from January 1979 to December 1986. In October 2019, he presented testimony before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge during a hearing. A copy of the transcript has been associated with the claims file. Service Connection The Veteran is seeking entitlement to service connection for low back and right shoulder disorders that he alleges are due to his military service. Specifically, he testified during his October 2019 Board hearing that he believes these disorders are due to injuries sustained during repeated parachute jumps and other training required by his participation in special forces. Service connection may be established for disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. That an injury or disease occurred in service is not enough; there must be chronic disability resulting from that injury or disease. If there is no showing of a resulting chronic condition during service, then a showing of continuity of symptomatology after service is required to support a finding of chronicity. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (b). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). In order to establish entitlement to service connection for a disability, a veteran must show: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). For the showing of chronic disease in service, there is required a combination of manifestations sufficient to identify the disease entity, and sufficient observation to establish chronicity at the time. If chronicity in service is not established for a chronic disease as enumerated for VA compensation purposes, to include arthritis, a showing of continuity of symptoms after discharge is required to support the claim. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303 (b), 3.309; Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Service connection for an enumerated “chronic disease” listed under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (a) can also be also be established on a presumptive basis by showing that it manifested itself to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year from the date of separation from service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307 (a)(3), 3.309(a). That is, under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (b), with an enumerated “chronic disease” such as arthritis is shown in service (or within the presumptive period under § 3.307), subsequent manifestations of the same chronic disease at any later date, however remote, are service-connected, unless clearly attributable to intercurrent causes. See also Groves v. Peake, 524 F.3d 1306, 1309 (2008). This rule does not mean that any manifestation of joint pain in service will permit service connection of arthritis first shown as a clear-cut clinical entity, at some later date. For the showing of chronic disease in service there is required a combination of manifestations sufficient to identify the disease entity, and sufficient observation to establish chronicity at the time, as distinguished from merely isolated findings or a diagnosis including the word “chronic.” When the disease identity is established (leprosy, tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, etc.), there is no requirement of evidentiary showing of continuity of symptomatology. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (b). As an initial matter, there is no disputing the Veteran has current diagnoses of degenerative changes of the right shoulder (see July 2015 VA Shoulder and Arm Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ)) and lumbar degenerative disc disease with herniated disc (see July 2015 VA Back Conditions DBQ). This satisfies the first element of service connection. The Board notes that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection for either of these on a presumptive basis as the evidence does not suggest that he was diagnosed within one year of service separation; by December 1987. In fact, the July 2015 VA examiners noted the diagnoses were provided in 2014 for the right shoulder and the low back. As to the second element of service connection, the in service incurrence on a direct basis, the Board notes that the Veteran’s service treatment records show complaints of and treatment for right shoulder separation in April 1985. He was also treated for injuries to the low back as a result of a skiing accident in February 1984.. There are no in-service notations pertaining to either the right shoulder or low back. As to the third element of service connection, the nexus, there is simply no evidence of record etiologically linking the Veteran’s right shoulder or low back disorders to his military service on a direct incurrence basis. Regarding specifically the right shoulder disorder, the July 2015 VA examiner determined that it is less likely than not the right shoulder disorder is due to or caused by the Veteran’s military service. As rationale, the examiner noted the in-service notation of the right shoulder separation due to a bicycle accident and the absence of a clinical diagnosis. The examiner also noted the Veteran has not been treated for any condition of the shoulder since his separation from service and has minimal symptomatology. Thus, the examiner concluded there is insufficient medical evidence to substantiate a nexus of the current disorder to the Veteran’s military service. As for the low back disorder, the July 2015 VA examiner similarly noted the in-service notation for the low back for a muscle injury and the absence of a clinical diagnosis. The examiner considered the Veteran’s participation in repeated parachute jumps but there is no evidence the Veteran was ever seen or treated for a jump injury in service. Instead, it was not until October 2014 when the Veteran was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease with spondylosis. The examiner also noted there is no documentation of any treatment from 1984 until 2015. Finally, the examiner referred to a prior October 2014 VA examination conducted in connection with the Veteran’s previous claim for service connection for a left knee disorder based on the same contention, that he injured his knee as a result of his special forces training. However, the July 2015 low back examiner concurred with the October 2014 left knee examiner in that the evidence does not support the Veteran’s contentions. In September 2016, an addendum opinion was obtained to specifically consider whether the Veteran’s currently diagnosed low back disorder is due to his parachutist jumps. The VA examiner indicated a review of the records was again conducted and the opinion previously given was confirmed. Based on the foregoing, the Board concludes that the evidence is against the service connection claims. The Board has also considered the Veteran’s statements, including his October 2019 hearing testimony, in support of his claims that these disorders are the result of his parachutist jumps. He is competent to report experiencing pain and stiffness as a result of these disorders, but he is not competent to opine regarding the etiology of the diagnosed right shoulder and low back disorders as this requires the interpretation of complicated medical testing, such as x-ray findings. Kahana v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 428 (2011); see also Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran’s claims cannot be granted as he has not met the third element of service connection, the requirement of a nexus to service, for the claimed disorder. As the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claims of entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder and low back disorder, the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine is not for application. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b). As such, the claims must be denied. YVETTE R. WHITE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Berry, 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.