Citation Nr: 20051253 Decision Date: 08/03/20 Archive Date: 08/03/20 DOCKET NO. 18-33 719 DATE: August 3, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for chronic paranoid schizophrenia is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence of record weighs against a finding that the Veteran has had paranoid schizophrenia at any time during the pendency of the claim or within close proximity thereto. CONCLUSION OF LAW Paranoid schizophrenia was not incurred in active service and may not be presumed to have been so incurred. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113; 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 March 1968 to January 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board remanded the case for further development in November 2018. That development was completed, and the case has since been returned to the Board for appellate review. Law and Analysis Neither the Veteran nor his representative has raised any issues with the duty to notify or duty to assist. See Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (holding that “the Board’s obligation to read filings liberally does not require the Board... to search the record and address procedural arguments when the veteran fails to raise them before the Board.”); Dickens v. McDonald, 814 F.3d 1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (applying Scott to a duty to assist argument). 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. 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 addition, for veterans who have served 90 days or more of active service during a war period or after December 31, 1946, certain chronic disabilities, including psychoses, are presumed to have been incurred in service if they manifested to a compensable degree within one year of separation from service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1131, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. 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 psychosis is considered to be a chronic disease for VA compensation purposes, if chronicity in service is not established, 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). A mental disorder diagnosis must conform to the Fourth Edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), or, for claims received by or pending before the AOJ on or after August 4, 2014, the DSM-V (Fifth Edition). See 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.125, 4.130; 79 Fed. Reg. 45093 (Aug. 4, 2014). In this case, the Veteran’s claim was certified to the Board in September 2018; therefore, the regulations pertaining to the DSM-V are for application. Except as otherwise provided by law, a claimant has the responsibility to present and support a claim for benefits. VA shall consider all information and lay and medical evidence of record in a case and when there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). To deny a claim on its merits, the weight of the evidence must be against the claim. Alemany v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 518, 519 (1996). In considering the evidence of record under the laws and regulations as set forth above, the Board concludes that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection for paranoid schizophrenia. The Veteran has claimed that he developed chronic paranoid schizophrenia due to his military service. The Veteran’s service treatment records are negative for any complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. In fact, a January 1970 separation examination did not reveal any psychiatric abnormalities. The Veteran’s VA treatment records show treatment for paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, and depression. See e.g. June 2006, June 2008, August 2018, July 2019 VA treatment records. The Veteran is currently service-connected for depression with psychotic features, which has been assigned a 70 percent evaluation under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The Veteran filed his claim for service connection for chronic paranoid schizophrenia in August 2015, and he was afforded a VA examination in November 2015. The examiner diagnosed him with depression with psychotic features and indicated that he did not have any additional mental disorders. The Veteran was provided another VA examination in November 2019 during which he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder with psychotic features. The examiner also indicated that were no additional mental disorders. Instead, she opined that the Veteran was previously misdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In this regard, she explained that the Veteran did not meet the DSM-V criteria for a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, as he presented with hallucinations concurrent with major depressive episodes. The examiner noted that, according to the Veteran’s medical records, he has continuously reported depressive symptoms even when he is not experiencing hallucinations. Moreover, she indicated that the Veteran’s hallucinations appear to occur exclusively during major depressive episodes, which is a distinguishing factor between providing a diagnosis of major depressive disorder with psychotic features or schizophrenia. The Board acknowledges the VA treatment records noting paranoid schizophrenia. However, as discussed above, the November 2015 and November 2019 VA examiners found that the Veteran has depression with psychotic features and no other mental health disorders. Moreover, the November 2019 VA examiner addressed those earlier assessments and found that the Veteran had been previously misdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The Board finds the November 2019 VA examiner’s opinion to be highly probative, as she provided thorough rationale based on mental status examinations and a review of the claims file and reported medical history, which included the VA treatment records. The Board has also considered the Veteran’s own statements that he has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia that is related to his military service. Although the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms, he is not competent to provide a diagnosis in this case or determine that his symptoms are manifestations of paranoid schizophrenia as opposed to another acquired psychiatric disorder. See e.g. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377, 1377 n.4 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 6 (2009) (“It is generally the province of medical professionals to diagnose or label a mental condition, not the claimant”). Based on the foregoing, the weight of the most probative evidence does not establish a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia during the appeal period or within close proximity thereto. Rather, the weight of the evidence shows that the Veteran has depression with psychotic features, which is already service-connected and assigned a 70 percent evaluation. The existence of a current disability is the cornerstone of a claim for VA disability compensation. 38 U.S.C. § 1110, 1131; see Degmetich v. Brown, 104 F.3d 1328, 1332 (1997) (holding that interpretation of sections 1110 and 1131 of the statute as requiring the existence of a present disability for VA compensation purposes cannot be considered arbitrary). Evidence must show that the appellant currently has the disability for which benefits are being claimed. Because the weight of the evidence shows that the Veteran does not have paranoid schizophrenia during the pendency of the appeal, the Board finds that he is not entitled to service connection. As the weight of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim, the benefit-of-the-doubt rule does not apply. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert, 1 Vet. App. at 53. J.W. ZISSIMOS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board T. J. Williams, 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.