Citation Nr: 21075284 Decision Date: 12/20/21 Archive Date: 12/20/21 DOCKET NO. 18-42 277 DATE: December 20, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability, to include right hip arthritis status post total arthroplasty, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's current right hip disability onset in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability, to include right hip arthritis status post total arthroplasty, are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from August 1971 to June 1975. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2016 rating decision by an Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as the Veteran filed a timely Notice of Disagreement (NOD) within one year of this decision and identified this as the decision on appeal. In November 2021, the Veteran testified at a virtual hearing before the undersigned. The Veteran asserts that he is entitled to service connection for a right hip disability because he had right hip pain in service and medical evidence links his current disability with his service. Moreover, he asserts that his exit examination erroneously documented left hip pain instead of right hip pain. The Board agrees. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To establish entitlement to direct service connection, a veteran must show (1) a present disability; (2) an 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). With respect to the first element of service connection, the Veteran has a current right hip disability. See, e.g., June 30, 2015 VA Imaging Report (moderate to severe right hip degenerative changes); November 15, 2016 VA Treatment Note (noting surgical history including right hip replacement in February 2016). With respect to the second element of service connection, the Veteran asserts that he had right hip pain in service, which is erroneously noted as tenderness of the left obturator tendon on his separation examination report. See May 1975 Separation Examination Report. His argument is corroborated by the record. In this regard, a September 6, 1973 service treatment record (STR) notes groin pain on the right side for the past two years, and an October 4, 1973 STR notes tenderness of the mid-thigh of the right leg with an impression of right leg ligamentous tear. In contrast, his STRs are silent with respect to treatment for his left hip. Thus, a typographical error on his separation examination report is plausible and consistent with the evidence of record. Accordingly, the Board concedes the presence of right hip tenderness at separation. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran's STRs show that he sprained his left ankle approximately two weeks prior to separation, but no ankle conditions whatsoever are noted at separation and thus the ankle sprain is not shown to be related to the abnormality noted at separation. With respect to the third element of service connection, the Veteran submitted a medical opinion from Dr. M.P., his treating physician. Dr. M.P noted that the Veteran underwent a right hip total arthroplasty in February 2016 due to his right hip osteoarthritis and opined that it was more likely than not that the Veteran's military service contributed to his right hip arthritis. Dr. M.P. explained that the Veteran was noted to have obturator tenderness in service, which may have been an early indicator. See December 2016 Dr. M.P. Opinion. Dr. M.P. is a physician and thus is competent to provide a medical opinion. Moreover, his opinion is based on an accurate history of the Veteran's disability and includes a comprehensible rationale. While his rationale and opinion are not phrased in terms of total certainty, that is not the relevant standard of proof and Dr. M.P.'s opinion is consistent with the benefit of the doubt afforded to claimants. Thus, Dr. M.P.'s opinion is probative. Indeed, it is the only probative evidence of record relating to nexus. Thus, as each element of entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability has been satisfied, the appeal is granted. S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board D.M. Badaczewski, Associate 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.