Citation Nr: 21066326
Decision Date: 10/29/21	Archive Date: 10/29/21

DOCKET NO. 09-21 954
DATE: October 29, 2021

ORDER

Service connection for recurring ingrown toenail is dismissed.

Service connection for bilateral heel spurs, to include as secondary to a back disability is denied.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. During the pendency of the appeal and prior to this decision being issued, service connection for a recurring ingrown toenail was granted by the regional office in a July 2021 rating decision. 

2. The competent evidence does not demonstrate that the Veteran currently has bilateral heel spurs, nor has he experienced such a condition during the pendency of the appeal or recent to the filing of the claim.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The criteria for dismissal of the claim of entitlement to service connection for a recurring ingrown toenail have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55.

2. The criteria for service connection for bilateral heel spurs have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110, 1112, 1113, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from January 1976 to January 1979. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2008 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Roanoke, Virginia.

The issues were previously remanded by the Board in September 2012, July 2016, April 2018, and February 2020. 

Service Connection

1. Service connection for recurring ingrown toenail is dismissed.

During the pendency of the appeal and prior to this decision being issued, service connection for the Veteran's recurring ingrown toenail was granted by the RO in a July 2021 rating decision. Because this represents a full grant of the issue on appeal, there is no longer a case or controversy as to this matter and the appeal must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. 

2. Service connection for bilateral heel spurs, to include as secondary to a back disability is denied. 

Legal Criteria

Service connection may be granted for disability arising from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may 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). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service.

Factual Background

The Veteran was afforded a July 2021 VA examination in accordance with the February 2020 Board remand instructions. The conducting physician indicated that no imaging data could be found confirming the presence of heel spurs in either foot. The physician explained that no diagnosis of heel spurs exists to connect to the Veteran's service. The remainder of the claims file is silent for a diagnosis of bilateral heel spurs.

Analysis

The results of the July 2021 VA examination indicates that there is no evidence that the Veteran has been diagnosed with heel spurs in either foot. While the Veteran may believe that he has heel spurs and is competent (qualified) to report observable symptoms, he does not have the medical training or credentials to offer an opinion as to this diagnosis or its cause. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Further, the July 2021 VA examiner explained that the Veteran denied any foot pain or dysfunction at his 1979 separation medical examination, and at the July 2021 VA examination the Veteran reported that his foot pain and fallen arch did not begin until 2000approximately 21 years after his honorable separation from service.

Accordingly, service connection for bilateral heel spurs must be denied.

 

 

David Gratz

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Alexander Bahus

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.