Citation Nr: 20021091 Decision Date: 03/24/20 Archive Date: 03/24/20 DOCKET NO. 17-06 085 DATE: March 24, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral shoulder disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s bilateral shoulder disability had its onset in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 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 in the United States Army from December 1966 to September 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In December 2018, the Board remanded the claim for further development. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection generally requires evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Certain chronic disabilities, including arthritis, may be presumed to have been incurred in service when manifest to a compensable degree within one year of discharge from active duty. 38 U.S.C. § 1112; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. The option of establishing service connection through a demonstration of continuity of symptomatology is specifically limited to the chronic disabilities listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). See Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Here, the Veteran has been diagnosed with bilateral shoulder osteoarthritis and left shoulder strain. See April 2019 VA examination report. Thus, the first element of service connection is established. Turning to the second element, in-service incurrence of a disease or injury, the Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) do not identify any complaints, treatment for, or diagnosis of, a shoulder disability or symptoms indicative of the same. However, the Veteran has competently and credibly reported an onset of shoulder and back pain during basic training following a motor vehicle accident while on leave, which was then aggravated by a subsequent injury in Vietnam. See March 2012 VA Form 21-4138; see also January 2017 VA Form 9. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran noted only low back pain at service separation, indicating that did not seek treatment but was referred to sick call, and specifically denied shoulder problems. See August 1968 STR. However, he is competent to report in-service shoulder pain, and such report has been consistent during and prior to the appeal period and is therefore credible. See, e.g. July 2009 (noting shoulder pain since service); September 2014 (shoulder pain started in basic training and aggravated by Vietnam); and February 2015 VA treatment records (training injury to shoulders before Vietnam). Additionally, his wife competently and credibly noted her observations of the Veteran’s chronic bilateral shoulder pain since 1969. See March 2012 statement from N.N. For these reasons, the Board finds that the second element is met, and in-service shoulder pain in conceded. Regarding the last element, nexus, the only competent opinions of record are in favor of the claim. (In this regard, the April 2019 VA opinion against the claim is of no probative value, as the examiner based her opinion on the lack of chronicity of care documented in the Veteran’s medical records.). Specifically, in a March 2014 statement, Dr. Reiff opined that the Veteran’s bilateral shoulder disability was more likely than not related to service, based on the Veteran’s competent and credible reports as to the onset and nature of his injuries as well as a review of pertinent medical records. In support of his opinion, Dr. Reiff stated that the Veteran had a history of pain associated with his shoulders since service separation but that it was dismissed or not diagnosed over the years and that he currently still continued to experience the same shoulder symptoms as he did in service. Similarly, in a February 2016 statement, Dr. Lee, the Veteran’s primary care VA physician, attributed the Veteran’s shoulder disability to service, finding that such condition was the result of injuries he sustained during service after reviewing his STRs, post-service records and his present condition. As these favorable opinions are well-reasoned and based on the Veteran’s competent and credible lay statements, the nexus element is satisfied, and the benefit sought on appeal is granted. S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S.S. Mahoney 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.