Citation Nr: 20026095
Decision Date: 04/15/20	Archive Date: 04/15/20

DOCKET NO. 17-02 867
DATE: April 15, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served honorably on active duty in the United States Army from October 1987 to February 1996.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2014 rating decision from a Regional Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The Veteran originally requested a Board hearing, which was scheduled in November 2019.  However, he canceled the hearing request.  

In the course of the instant appeal, the Veteran was afforded a November 2014 VA medical examination to determine the etiology of his erectile dysfunction.  The clinician who conducted that evaluation also provided an addendum opinion in April 2016 in which a negative nexus opinion was given relating to any contended connection between the Veteran’s service-connected conditions and his erectile dysfunction.  Instead, the examiner suggested that hypogonadism was the cause of this disability.

The Board does not find that this opinion is adequate for VA’s purposes.  Where, as here, the theory of service connection is one in which the claimed condition is contended to be related to an already service-connected disability, an examiner must address the possibility both that the service-connected disability either caused or aggravated the claimed disability and that the service-connected disability aggravated the claimed disability.  No opinion was provided by the VA examiner regarding whether the Veteran’s numerous service-connected disabilities aggravated his erectile dysfunction.

In that regard, the Board also observes that the Veteran’s representative submitted a recent brief in which it was argued that the medication for the pain he has from his service-connected disabilities has led to his erectile dysfunction.  Upon remand, the examiner should also address this possibility.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran’s erectile dysfunction is at least as likely as not related to his service-connected disabilities.  The examiner should specifically address the following questions:

(a.) Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s erectile dysfunction is caused by his service-connected back disability, fibromyalgia, or neurological disabilities, to include the medication he has been prescribed for these disabilities?  The examiner is reminded that the Veteran’s representative has suggested his Neurontin and Pregabalin are known to cause erectile dysfunction.

(b.) Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s erectile dysfunction has been aggravated by his service-connected orthopedic disabilities, fibromyalgia, or neurological disabilities, to include the medication he has been prescribed for these disabilities?  In other words, is it at least as likely as not that those disabilities or their treatment worsened erectile dysfunction beyond the natural progression of the disease?

 

 

JENNIFER HWA

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Whitelaw, 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.