Citation Nr: 21064795 Decision Date: 10/21/21 Archive Date: 10/21/21 DOCKET NO. 17-49 785 DATE: October 21, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a left knee disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran began experiencing symptoms of his current left knee disability during service, and he has continued to experience such symptomatology since separation from service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a left knee disability are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from November 1975 to November 1979. In July 2021, he testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). Service Connection- Left Knee 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. § 1131; 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). A layperson is competent to report on the onset and continuity of his or her current symptomatology. See 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). The Veteran seeks service connection for a left knee disability which he asserts onset in service. The October 2016 VA examination report reflects that he has a current diagnosis of status post left knee arthroscopy. Further, he testified before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) in July 2021 that he underwent a left knee replacement four years earlier and that his knee symptoms have been much better since then. In McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) held that the requirement of the existence of a current disability is satisfied when a veteran has a disability at the time he files his claim for service connection, or during the pendency of that claim, even if the disability resolves prior to adjudication of the claim. As such, even if the Veteran's left knee replacement is determined to have resolved his left knee disability, because he has had a current left knee disability for at least some time during the pendency of his claim, the current disability prong of this claim is met, and the remaining issue is whether the current disability can be related to any in-service event or whether it onset therein. Importantly, the Veteran testified at the July 2021 hearing that he has experienced symptoms of swelling, limited movement, and pain in his left knee since injuring it as a result of a motor vehicle accident during service. He further testified that he sought treatment in service for the swelling he experienced after the accident and that his service treatment records confirm that he was seen four times in August 1979 for treatment for left knee effusion. Thus, the Board finds the Veteran's lay reports as to the onset of his left knee symptoms to be credible, as they are corroborated by the medical evidence of record. Accordingly, his testimony alone is sufficient to establish the criteria for service connection for his left knee disability. As such, his claim for service connection for a left knee disability is allowed, as it is a condition for which a continuity of symptomatology has been shown since active service. In reaching this decision, the Board acknowledges that the October 2016 VA examiner opined against service connection for the Veteran's left knee disability. However, while the Board cannot ignore or disregard the VA examiner's medical conclusions [Willis v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 66 (1991)], the Board is free to assess medical evidence and is not compelled to accept a medical opinion. Wilson v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 614 (1992). Here, the October 2016 VA examiner's negative nexus opinion was based on the Veteran's not having continued to seek medical treatment for his left knee after separating from service until 2013, over thirty years later. However, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset and history of his left knee symptoms were not considered in rendering the negative nexus opinion, the Board affords the opinion minimal, if any, probative weight, as it did not consider all relevant evidence. In light of the above, the Board finds the Veteran's competent, credible reports of his left knee disability symptoms having onset in active service to be more probative than the 2016 VA examiner's negative nexus opinion which did not address all relevant evidence. Thus, the weight of the evidence supports a finding that his left knee disability symptoms onset in service and have continued since then. Accordingly, service connection for a left knee disability is warranted, as it is a current disability that onset in active service. 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.