Citation Nr: 21002041 Decision Date: 01/12/21 Archive Date: 01/12/21 DOCKET NO. 16-29 228 DATE: January 12, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include bipolar disorder and depression is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, her bipolar disorder with depression began during active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for service connection for bipolar disorder with depression are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active duty service from September 1975 to September 1976. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a July 2015 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). A Board hearing was held in August 2019 before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of that hearing is of record. Service Connection 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, 5107; 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). 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). 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include bipolar disorder and depression The question before the Board is whether the Veteran’s claimed for bipolar disorder with depression had its onset in service. Upon review of the record, the Board finds that the Veteran’s claim meets the first Shedden element to service connection as she has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder during the pendency of her appeal. See January 2020 VA examination. Regarding the second and third elements of service connection, the Veteran contends that her claimed for condition had its onset in service and that she sought treatment for the condition in service, as well as at the VA in 1977 and thereafter following her discharge. See August 2020 Board Hearing transcript; July 2015 Notice of Disagreement. In November 2019, the Board remanded for the aforesaid records; however, those attempts proved to be unsuccessful. See September 2020 Notification Letter (indicating that further attempts by VA to obtain the records in question would be futile). Because of the lack of medical records corroborating the Veteran’s lay testimony of treatment, the January 2020 VA examiner opined that a medical opinion could not be provided without resorting to mere speculation as to whether the Veteran’s current diagnoses had their onset during service. Here, the Board notes that the lack of evidence of treatment during service, in and of itself, is not adequate to find a lack of nexus between the disability and service connection. Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 301 (2008). Because the examiner do not provide a medical opinion, the statement has no probative value with regard to the etiology of the condition and its relationship to service. (Continued on the next page)   Weighing in favor of the Veteran’s claim is a December 2015 private medical opinion stating that the claimed condition began during service with symptoms of depression and mood swings. While the Board determined that this medical opinion alone does not warrant a grant of service connection, it does still possess probative value relative to corroborating the Veteran’s lay testimony. See November 2019 Board remand. On this point, the Veteran also submitted a buddy statement from a fellow solider in support of her claim who stated that the Veteran did seek treatment for her bipolar disorder during service, and that the fellow solider accompanied the Veteran to those appointments during service. See October 2020 Buddy Statement; see also December 2020 Buddy Statement. Given the following, the Board finds that the Veteran has provided competent and consistent lay testimony relative to receiving treatment for her condition during service, and that said testimony has been corroborated by a private medical professional, as well as a fellow solider of the Veteran’s, and is not otherwise contradicted by the record. As such, the Board resolves reasonable doubt in her favor and finds that the evidence of record supports the assertion that the claimed condition had its onset in service, and therefore her claim for service connection for bipolar disorder with depression is granted. See Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). K. J. ALIBRANDO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S.R. Fey, 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.