Citation Nr: 20058098 Decision Date: 09/02/20 Archive Date: 09/02/20 DOCKET NO. 15-18 456A DATE: September 2, 2020 ORDER Service connection for a right ankle condition is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s right ankle condition is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a right ankle condition have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 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 August 1976 to April 1986. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2015 rating decision. The Board remanded the claims in October 2018 in order to obtain an updated medical opinion. The Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Certain chronic diseases will be presumed related to service if they were shown as chronic (reliably diagnosed) in service; or, if they manifested to a compensable degree within a presumptive period following separation from service; or, if they were noted in service, with continuity of symptomatology since service that is attributable to the chronic disease. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. The Veteran contends that he has a current right ankle disability attributable to a right ankle injury incurred in service. A June 2019 VA examination diagnosed a current right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain. A lateral collateral ligament sprain is not a “chronic disease” under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). Therefore, the presumptive provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b) for “chronic” in-service symptoms and “continuous” post service symptoms do not apply. Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). However, this does not preclude the Veteran from being service connected for his claimed ankle disability on a direct basis. As stated previously, the June 2019 VA examination diagnosed the Veteran with a right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain; therefore, the first element of a service connection claim, a current disability, has been met. Regarding an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury, the Veteran claims in a February 2015 statement that he injured his right ankle during a running exercise where he stepped into a ditch. Further, medical records have noted that the Veteran describes his ankle injury inservice as the date his subsequent ankle symptoms began. Therefore, the Board finds, as the Veteran is competent to report his pain and symptoms associated with his right ankle injury, that the Veteran has established an in-service injury fulfilling the second element of a service connection claim. The Veteran underwent a VA examination in April 2015 where the examiner concluded that the Veteran’s claimed ankle injury was less likely than not incurred in or caused by the claimed in-service injury, event, or illness. Specifically, the examiner stated that there was no objective evidence to establish a connection between the in-service ankle injury and the present ankle injury. Additionally, the Veteran underwent another VA examination in June 2019. The examiner came to the same conclusion as the examiner in April 2015 stating that it was less likely than not that the Veteran’s current ankle injury was related to the injury incurred in service. The examiner noted that the Veteran’s medical records since service were silent for complaints of ankle pain until November 2014, 28 years after separation from service, therefore it was less likely than not that the current ankle disability was related to the ankle injury in service. There is no competent medical evidence to refute this conclusion or otherwise link the Veteran’s current disability to service. While the Veteran believes his current right ankle disability is related to the in-service injury, he has not demonstrated the necessary medical knowledge or expertise to provide a competent nexus opinion in this case. Consequently, the Board gives more probative weight to the competent medical evidence. As a result, service connection is not warranted. JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Jorge Barroso, 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.