Citation Nr: 21075410 Decision Date: 12/20/21 Archive Date: 12/20/21 DOCKET NO. 20-29 297 DATE: December 20, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for otosclerosis, to include as secondary to service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is service connected for bilateral hearing loss. An award of a separate rating for otosclerosis would constitute pyramiding. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for dismissal of entitlement to service connection for otosclerosis, to include as secondary to service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive, have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION Preliminary Matters The Veteran had honorable active duty service with the United States Army from December 1952 to March 1955. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In January 2021, the Board, in pertinent part, remanded the issue on appeal for further development. The Board also remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. While the matter was in remand status, in a November 2021 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss at 100 percent disabling, effective April 5, 2017. Thus, this issue has been granted in full and is no longer before the Board. The remaining issue has returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. SERVICE CONNECTION Generally, to establish service connection, a Veteran must show: "(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." Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1315-16 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any injury or disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease or injury was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). In the absence of proof of a present disability there can be no valid claim. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). The evaluation of the same disability under several diagnostic codes, known as pyramiding, must be avoided; however, separate ratings may be assigned for distinct disabilities resulting from the same injury as long as the symptomatology for one condition is not duplicative of, or overlapping with, the symptomatology of the other condition. Esteban v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 259, 262 (1994); 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. Entitlement to service connection for otosclerosis, to include as secondary to service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis, inactive, is dismissed. In this case, the Veteran seeks entitlement to service connection for otosclerosis. Diagnostic Code 6202 for otosclerosis instructs that the disability be rated based on hearing impairment. However, as previously indicated, the Veteran is already separately service connected for bilateral loss at the maximum schedular rating under Diagnostic Code 6100 for hearing impairment. Because his symptomatology is already evaluated under Diagnostic Code 6100, granting a separate disability rating for otosclerosis under Diagnostic Code 6202 would constitute impermissible pyramiding. See Esteban, 6 Vet. App. at 262; 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. Accordingly, the claim for service connection for otosclerosis is moot, and it must be dismissed. B. MULLINS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Y. MacDonald, 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.