Citation Nr: 21066872 Decision Date: 11/02/21 Archive Date: 11/02/21 DOCKET NO. 16-26 112 DATE: November 2, 2021 ORDER Service connection for right wrist arthritis is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of right wrist arthritis. 2. The Veteran injured the right wrist during paratrooper training during service. 3. Symptoms of right wrist arthritis began during service and have been continuous since service separation. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for presumptive service connection for right wrist arthritis have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the Appellant, served on active duty from July 1973 to July 1976. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2015 rating decision from the Regional Office (RO), which denied service connection for right wrist arthritis. Service Connection for Right Wrist Arthritis is Granted. The Veteran contends that he injured the wrist during jump/paratrooper school training during service, due to breaking his falls with his right-hand during training activities. The Veteran asserts that he did not seek treatment or otherwise report his wrist pain during service because he was afraid that doing so would interfere with his training and he was not aware that his wrist sprain could lead to a more severe condition. The Veteran reports that symptoms of right wrist pain and swelling began during service and have continued since service separation. See January 2016 Notice of Disagreement, April 2016 Statement in Support of the Claim, July 2020 VA examination report. Under the relevant laws and regulations, 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, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Generally, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (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 in or aggravated by service. The evidence shows a current disability of osteoarthritis in the right wrist. See February 2015, April 2016, July 2019 VA treatment records; July 2020 VA examination report. Osteoarthritis is considered "arthritis" recognized as a "chronic disease" under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a); therefore, the presumptive provisions of 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.307, and 3.309 apply to the claim for service connection for a right wrist disability. Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). The Veteran has provided lay statements of injuring or spraining the right wrist due to breaking his falls with his right-hand during paratrooper/jump school training. The DD Form 214 shows that the Veteran is a recipient of the parachute badge. The Board finds the Veteran's account of in-service injury to the wrist during jump school training to be credible and consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of his service, so will resolve doubt to find in-service injury to the right wrist during training. 38 U.S.C. § 1154(a). The Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise on the question of whether symptoms of right wrist arthritis have been continuous since service. Although the service treatment records are silent for complaints or treatment for right wrist pain or injury, the Veteran has provided credible lay statement that he did not report of seek treatment for his wrist injury due to fear that doing so would impact his ability to complete his paratrooper/jump school training and because he did not think his wrist injury would lead to a more severe disability at the time. Consistent with the finding of continuous symptoms since service, post-service record indicate that the Veteran presented for right wrist pain in October 1999 after he fell and broke his fall with his right hand at work; however, when reporting a history for treatment purposes the Veteran reported that his wrist pain had been ongoing for years prior to the work injury. Additionally, contemporaneous imaging of the right wrist showed evidence of traumatic arthritic changes in the right wrist with old fracture deformity of the navicular and radial styloid, which suggests an older injury that the post-service injury in 1999. The private physician noted that the Veteran's pain was due to a traumatic arthritic condition and opined that it did not arise from his recent employment injury. Consistent with the finding of continuous right wrist symptoms since service, post-service VA treatment records also show contemporaneous lay reports of wrist pain for many years, dating back to service, as well as reports of injuring the right wrist during jump school in service. Similarly, a 2015 MRI of the right wrist continued to show old fracture deformity and posttraumatic arthritis in the radiocarpal joint. See October 1999, private treatment record; November 2011, May 2014, February 2015, March 2015, April 2016 VA treatment records. For these reasons, and resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that symptoms of right wrist arthritis were continuous after service. As there is a currently diagnosed disability of arthritis, all the criteria are met for presumptive service connection for wrist arthritis as a "chronic" disease. 38 U.S.C. § 1112; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.307, 3.309. While the VA examiner in July 2020 rendered a negative nexus opinion on the direct service connection question, based solely on a lack of treatment for a wrist condition during service, such an opinion is rendered moot by the grant of presumptive service connection based on continuous post-service symptoms of the "chronic" disease of right wrist arthritis. Because the Board has found continuous post-service symptoms of right wrist arthritis and is granting presumptive service connection for "chronic" diseases under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b), all other theories of service connection are rendered moot, including direct service connection. This obviates the need for direct nexus opinion (July 2020) to relate the right wrist arthritis to service. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Moore, Shanna 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.