Citation Nr: 21004488 Decision Date: 01/27/21 Archive Date: 01/27/21 DOCKET NO. 15-20 072 DATE: January 27, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a major depressive disorder and anxiety, is denied. FINDING OF FACT At no time during the current appeal has the Veteran been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a major depressive disorder and anxiety, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from November 1965 to November 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional office (RO). Although the Veteran initially requested an opportunity to present sworn testimony at a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge Board, he (the Veteran) later withdrew this request in correspondence received in October 2018. Thereafter, in January 2019, and again in September 2020, the Board remanded this matter for further evidentiary development, to include obtaining a VA medical examination and opinion. Most recently, this case was returned to the Board after completion of the development requested in the September 2020 Remand and additional consideration by the RO in a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) dated in November 2020. This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a major depressive disorder and anxiety The Board finds insufficient evidence to show that the Veteran has a diagnosed psychiatric disorder related to his active service. It is worthy of note that the Veteran denied any such diagnosis in his correspondence in October 2018. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110. Generally, the evidence must show: (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, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004); Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 505 (1995). Regulations also provide that service connection may be granted for a disability diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disability is due to disease or injury which was incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). 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 distinguished from merely isolated findings or a diagnosis including the word “chronic.” Continuity of symptoms after discharge is required where the condition noted during service is not, in fact, shown to be chronic or where the diagnosis of chronicity may be legitimately questioned. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b); Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). In the current appeal, service medical records show that the Veteran reported frequent trouble sleeping and depression or excessive worry in an October 1967 Report of Medical History. In the physician’s summary of the same report, it was indicated that evaluation of the Veteran’s mental health status was actually negative for insomnia and depression. VA medical records from February 2004 indicate that the Veteran had previously been prescribed Paxil for depression, but that he had stopped taking it without significant withdrawal symptoms. He reported experiencing a recent bereavement but did not have symptoms requiring medication. On VA examination in October 2020, the Veteran denied any mental health treatment. The examiner noted that the Veteran was diagnosed with depression in 2004 following the loss of his wife, but did not receive treatment. The examiner opined that the Veteran’s claimed acquired psychiatric disorder was less likely than not incurred in, or caused by, his active service. The Veteran was not diagnosed with any mental health condition due to service, nor has any such condition existed during the appeal period. While the examiner acknowledged a finding of depression in 2004, such symptomatology was noted to be the result of bereavement rather than a mental health condition. Further, the Veteran denied experiencing either depression or sleep problems during active service. The Veteran has not submitted any evidence or argument to support his claim showing a current diagnosis of an acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board finds there is insufficient evidence to show the Veteran has a currently diagnosed psychiatric disorder, which is a threshold matter for consideration of service connection. Thus, the evidentiary requirement of demonstrating a current disability has not been satisfied. There is no evidence that the Veteran has had an acquired psychiatric disorder at any time during the appeal period. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007). Without a diagnosis, the claim for service connection fails. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992). There is no doubt of material fact to be resolved in the Veteran’s favor, and the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a major depressive disorder and anxiety, is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. THERESA M. CATINO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M.E. Lee 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.