Citation Nr: 21061556 Decision Date: 10/04/21 Archive Date: 10/04/21 DOCKET NO. 16-21 133 DATE: October 4, 2021 ORDER Service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED) is granted. Service connection for a right hand and fingers disability is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, his ED is etiologically related to service. 2. Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, his right hand and fingers disability is etiologically related to service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for ED have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 2. The criteria for service connection for a right hand and fingers disability have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active service from September 1965 to October 1968. In September 2019, he testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). In January 2020, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) remanded these claims for further development. Service Connection ED and Right Hand and Fingers Disability 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; 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 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection can also be established through application of a statutory presumption for chronic diseases, like arthritis, when manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation from service. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. If a chronic disease is not manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation of service, then, generally, a showing of "continuity of symptoms" after service is required for service connection. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b). Furthermore, a layperson is competent to report on the onset and continuity of his or her current symptomatology. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (a veteran is competent to report on that of which he or she has personal knowledge). A February 2020 VA examiner diagnosed the Veteran with erectile dysfunction. As for the Veteran's right hand and fingers, the examiner noted that the Veteran had diagnoses of right hand residuals of right ring finger dislocation, to include degenerative joint disease (arthritis), and carpal tunnel syndrome. The examiner opined that all of these disabilities were at least as likely as not related to service. Specifically, the examiner explained that the Veteran reported having no ED symptoms prior to service and that he noted that they began in Japan while he was on active duty, despite his not having sought treatment for ED at the time. The examiner also noted that the Veteran appeared oriented and a reliable historian. Thus, based upon the Veteran's competent reported history of the onset of this disability, the examiner concluded that the condition onset in service. As to the Veteran's right hand and fingers disabilities, the examiner explained that the Veteran reported having problems with right carpal tunnel syndrome since service, despite his not having sought treatment for it at the time. The Veteran also reported having problems with residuals of his right ring finger dislocation since injuring the finger in service, despite not having treated for the condition in service. The examiner explained that the Veteran had an altered grasp from the dislocation and carpal tunnel syndrome which predisposed him to arthritis of the right hand. As the Veteran appeared oriented and to be a reliable historian, the examiner did not doubt his reported onset of his right hand symptoms. There are no medical opinions of record which contradict those of the February 2020 VA examiner. Further, the Veteran competently testified before the Board in September 2019 that his right hand and finger symptoms onset in service while he was at sea and that he had no way of getting off the ship and to see a doctor. Accordingly, based on this positive evidence, with no contrary evidence, the Board concludes that service connection is warranted for the Veteran's erectile dysfunction and right hand and fingers disability. THERESA M. CATINO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Davidoski, 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.