Citation Nr: 20037584 Decision Date: 06/02/20 Archive Date: 06/02/20 DOCKET NO. 19-24 189 DATE: June 2, 2020 ORDER Service connection for hypertension is denied. Service connection for prostate cancer is denied. Service connection for a chronic left wrist disorder is denied. Service connection for a chronic left knee disorder is denied Service connection for a chronic lower extremity disorder is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran was not exposed to herbicide agents during service. 2. Hypertension and prostate cancer did not originate in service or until years thereafter and are not otherwise etiologically related to the Veteran’s active service. 3. The Veteran does not have a diagnosis of a chronic left wrist disorder, a chronic left knee disorder, or a chronic lower extremity disorder. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for hypertension have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. 2. The criteria for service connection for prostate cancer have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. 3. The criteria for service connection for a chronic left wrist disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. 4. The criteria for service connection for a chronic left knee disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. 5. The criteria for service connection for a chronic lower extremity disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served honorably on active duty from July 1959 to July 1962, to include service in the Republic of Korea. Service Connection Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (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, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be established under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b), where a condition in service is noted but is not, in fact, chronic, or where a diagnosis of chronicity may be legitimately questioned. The continuity of symptomatology provision of 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b) has been interpreted as an alternative to service connection only for the specific chronic diseases listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). See Walker v. Shinseki, 718 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Service connection may also be established with certain chronic diseases based upon a legal presumption by showing that the disorder manifested itself to a degree of 10 percent disabling or more within one year from the date of separation from service. Such disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(a). While the disease need not be diagnosed within the presumption period, it must be shown, by acceptable lay or medical evidence, that there were characteristic manifestations of the disease to the required degree during that time. Service connection may be granted on a presumptive basis for certain diseases that are associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, including prostate cancer, even though there is no record of such disease during service, if they manifest to a compensable degree any time after service, in a veteran who had active military, naval, or air service for at least 90 days, during the period beginning on January 9, 1962 and ending on May 7, 1975, in the Republic of Vietnam, including the waters offshore, and other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam. 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e), 3.313. This presumption may be rebutted by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C. § 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. In addition, recent findings indicate that herbicides were also used in Thailand and Korea. Any veteran who served in a unit determined by VA or the Department of Defense (DOD) to have operated in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in an area in which herbicides are known to have been applied during that period, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307. The Veteran filed service connection claims for hypertension, prostate cancer, a left wrist disorder, a left knee disorder, and a lower extremity disorder, which were denied by a November 2014 rating decision. He asserts that his hypertension and prostate cancer are due to his active service as he was exposed to herbicide agents during his service in the Republic of Korea. He asserts that he has a left wrist disorder, left knee disorder, and lower extremity disorder after falling off a truck and landing in a ditch during his active service. The Veteran reported that his hypertension and prostate cancer were due to his herbicide agent exposure during his service in the Republic of Korea. While prostate cancer is included on the list of disorders that permit presumptive service connection, hypertension is not among the list of disease that are presumptively related to herbicide agent exposure under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). In any event, the Veteran was not in Korea during the applicable dates. The Veteran left active service in 1962, while exposure to an herbicide agent in or near the Korean DMZ may only be presumed if the Veteran was there between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iv). As such, presumptive service connection based on herbicide agent exposure is not warranted. For VA compensation purposes, the term “hypertension” means that the diastolic blood pressure is predominantly 90mm or greater, and isolated systolic hypertension means that the systolic blood pressure is predominantly 160mm or greater with a diastolic blood pressure of less than 90mm. Multiple blood pressure readings are required to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension with two or more readings on at least three different days. 38 C.F.R. § 4.104, Diagnostic Code 7101, Note 1. The Veteran’s STRs show that at his July 1969 entrance physical, his blood pressure was 128/62, and he had normal examinations of his upper and lower extremities. In November 1961, he injured his left shoulder, but no other complaints were noted. His blood pressure was 100/70. At his April 1962 separation physical, his blood pressure was 132/68 and he had normal examinations of his upper and lower extremities. In addition, he specifically denied having high blood pressure or any musculoskeletal complaints. His STRs do not show that he had any symptoms, complaints, or diagnoses for any hypertension, prostate cancer, left wrist, left knee, or lower extremities condition during his active service. After his separation from active service, the Veteran’s medical records show that he was first diagnosed with hypertension August 2016, over five decades after his separation from active service. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2016, again over five decades after his separation from active service. While he reported occasional wrist and knee pain in August 2018, his medical records do not show any diagnoses for a chronic left wrist disorder, a chronic left knee disorder, or a chronic lower extremity disorder. Regarding the Veteran’s hypertension, the record contains no diagnosis of hypertension either in service or within one year after service, which would preclude service connection on the basis of continuity of symptomology or on any presumptive basis. There is also no medical evidence even suggesting the possibility of a link between the Veteran’s current hypertension and his active service. See Shedden, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167. Thus, there is no basis for service connection on a direct or presumptive basis. Regarding the Veteran’s prostate cancer, the record contains no diagnosis of prostate cancer either in service or within one year after service, which would preclude service connection on the basis of continuity of symptomology or on any presumptive basis. There is also no medical evidence even suggesting the possibility of a link between any prostate cancer and his active service. See Shedden, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167. Thus, there is no basis for service connection on a direct or presumptive basis. Regarding any left wrist disorder, left knee disorder, and lower extremity disorder, while the Veteran asserts that he has these conditions occurred during his active service, the diagnosis of such a disability requires clinical testing and medical expertise, and cannot simply be diagnosed by lay observation alone; and the Veteran is not considered competent (meaning medically qualified by training or experience) to diagnose these conditions or relate these conditions to any incident during his active service. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). As such, there is then no need to address whether his lay statements in this regard are also credible. Id. In the absence of proof of a current disability, there can be no valid claim for service connection. Boyer v. West, 210 F.3d 1351, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Giplin v. West, 155 F.3d 1353 (Fed. Cir. 1998); Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). The requirement that a current disability be present is satisfied “when a claimant has a disability at the time a claim for VA disability compensation is filed or during the pendency of that claim...even though the disability resolves prior to the Secretary’s adjudication of the claim.” McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007); see also Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013). Here the Veteran has not shown by medical evidence the presence of a chronic left wrist disorder, a chronic left knee disorder, or a chronic lower extremity disorder. Nor does the evidence establish any physical functional impairment that would suggest a disability even in the absence of a diagnosis. See Saunders v. Wilkie, No. 17-1466 (Fed. Cir. 2018). As such, the claims file does not show any symptoms, treatment, or diagnosis of a chronic left wrist disorder, a chronic left knee disorder, or a chronic lower extremity disorder; in the absence of objective indications of a disorder, the Board finds that service connection is not warranted. Accordingly, the criteria for service connection for hypertension, prostate cancer, a chronic left wrist disorder, a chronic left knee disorder, and a lower extremity disorder have not been met, and the Veteran’s claims are denied. Timothy Berryman Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Rogos 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.