Citation Nr: 21076270 Decision Date: 12/23/21 Archive Date: 12/23/21 DOCKET NO. 17-11 100 DATE: December 23, 2021 ORDER Service connection for neck disability, to include as secondary to status post right hip total arthroplasty with degenerative arthritis and synovitis (hereinafter right hip disability) is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's neck disability is not secondary to service-connected right hip disability and is not otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for neck disability due to service or service-connected right hip disability are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably on active duty in the United States Army from November 1966 to January 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In March 2019 and July 2021, the Board remanded this matter for further development. The Veteran has not raised any issues with the duty to assist. See Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (holding that "the Board's obligation to read filings in a liberal manner does not require the Board ... to search the record and address procedural arguments when the veteran fails to raise them before the Board."); see also Dickens v. McDonald, 814 F.3d 1359, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (applying Scott to a duty to assist argument). 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; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To establish service connection for a disability, 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 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Service connection may also be granted for a disability that is proximately due to or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. Neck The Veteran contends that his neck disability is related to service, or in the alternative is due to his service-connected right hip disability. For the following reasons, the Board disagrees and finds that service connection is not warranted. The Veteran has a present diagnosis of cervical spine degenerative arthritis of the spine and degenerative disc disease of the neck. This satisfies the first element for service connection. Service treatment records are silent for any complaints or treatment of neck pain. The Veteran also has not alleged that he injured his neck during service. The Board finds there to be no in-service incurrence or aggravation of a neck disability. As such, the second element for direct service connection is not met and direct service connection is not available for the Veteran's claim. Secondary service connection is still available for the Veteran's claim. He is service connected for a right hip disability that he alleges is the cause of his neck disability. The evidence consists of multiple opinions from VA physicians. In December 2016, an opinion was obtained for secondary service connection. The VA physician opined that it was less likely than not that the Veteran's neck disability was caused by or aggravated by a right hip disability. They explained their opinion by stating that the Veteran's right hip disability did not cause chronic excess mechanical stress on the cervical spine. The Board finds this opinion to be conclusory and affords it little probative weight. Another opinion was obtained in March 2017. This physician again opined that it was less likely than not that the Veteran's neck disability was proximately due to or the result of his right hip disability or aggravated beyond its natural progression by his right hip disability. The physician's rationale was that there was no documentation in service and that the complaints of cervical spine pain occurred many years after service. This opinion is again conclusory, and the Board also affords it little probative weight. After a remand, an addendum opinion was obtained in September 2021. The physician opined that it was less likely than not that the Veteran's neck disability was proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected right hip disability. Regarding the causation prong, the physician's rationale was that the right hip and neck are not medically related and that there is no evidence in medical literature that establishes degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine are due to a status post right hip total arthroplasty due to degenerative arthritis and synovitis. The physician also explained that joint disease does not spread to another or cause damage to it. For the aggravation prong, the physician's rationale was that though neck pain is a currently noted concern, it is consistent with no aggravation of neck pain by the Veteran's right hip. The physician noted that neck x-rays from November 2012 and October 2016 showed moderate degenerative changes consistent with no aggravation and there was no pertinent evidence of the Veteran being evaluated in the emergency room or hospitalized for a neck disability due to a right hip disability which is consistent with no aggravation. The physician is competent to provide this opinion, the Board finds them to be credible, and affords the opinion great probative weight. The Board acknowledges the Veteran's contention in his March 2017 VA Form 9 that surgery in the 1970s for his right hip disability caused his neck to be out of alignment. Though the Veteran's is competent to report the onset of pain, the Veteran has not shown that he has the requisite medical knowledge to provide a medical nexus opinion for his current disability. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Board also notes that at a February 2013 pain consult, the Veteran reported neck pain that started about three years ago with no specific inciting event. Due to this inconsistency, the Board finds the statement in his March 2017 VA Form 9 regarding the onset of his neck pain to be less than credible. The Board affords the Veteran's lay statement less probative weight and affords more probative weight to the September 2021 addendum opinion. Accordingly, the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran's neck disability is related to service or secondary to his service-connected right hip disability. Because the preponderance of the evidence weighs against this claim, the benefit-of-the-doubt rule does not apply. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. As such, service connection for a neck disability is denied. JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Michael Chandeck, 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.