Citation Nr: 21076807 Decision Date: 12/27/21 Archive Date: 12/27/21 DOCKET NO. 10-38 698 DATE: December 27, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a left foot condition is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's left foot condition is etiologically related to her active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a left foot condition have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 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 U.S. Marine Corps from August 1975 to October 1986. The issues of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and a left foot condition were remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) in September 2014, June 2018, February 2021, and August 2021 for further development. The most recent remand in August 2021 specifically instructed the regional office (RO) to obtain a medical opinion pertaining to the Veteran's claim. In a September 2021 rating decision, the RO, in pertinent part, granted entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder with a 70 percent rating, effective August 7, 2006. This constituted a full grant of the benefits sought. Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction over this issue, and it is no longer before the Board. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1977). Entitlement to service connection for left foot condition is granted. The Veteran contends that her left foot condition is related to her service. 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. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also 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). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). First, the record shows the Veteran has been diagnosed with bilateral pes planus, bilateral plantar fasciitis, bilateral hammer toes, bilateral hallux valgus, and degenerative arthritis first MTP joint of the left foot. See May 2021 C&P Exam. The first element of service connection is satisfied. Shedden, 381 F.3d at 1166-67. Second, with regard to the in-service element, the Veteran has credibly reported that she was required to work in a warehouse setting for long periods of times on her feet, that she was required to wear military boots, and that she ran and trained in those boots. See April 2018 Correspondence, p. 4. The Veteran's Certificates of Release or Discharge from Active Duty show her military occupational specialty (MOS) as general warehouse manager, supple administration manager, and supply administration operations clerk. The Veteran has asserted that she experienced bilateral foot pain during service, and the Board finds that the Veteran is competent to report such and that her assertions are credible. Therefore, affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, the second element of service connection is also satisfied. Id. The remaining question is whether there is a medical nexus between the Veteran's currently diagnosed left foot condition and her service. As to this matter, the evidence conflicts. A March 2018 private medical opinion provided by Dr. P.M.A. was associated with the Veteran's claims file in April 2018. Dr. P.M.A. stated that she had been treating the Veteran for her severe bilateral foot pain for 14 years with multiple problems due to the Veteran's flat feet. Secondary problems include posterior tibial tendonitis and dysfunction, plantar fasciitis, lateral sinus tarsi impingement/syndrome, Achilles tendonitis/enthesopathy, adaptive osteoarthritis, and hallux valgus deformity. She opined that the Veteran's chronic and recurrent pain due to adaptive changes have a direct correlation with her time spent in the service. In support of her opinion, she noted that the Veteran's condition was induced by the aggravation and adaption to military boots, which the Veteran trained and ran in without any supportive inserts or orthotics prescribed over an 11-year period. Dr. P.M.A. concluded that it was evident from the Veteran's history that she did not have any foot problems upon entering the military and acquired her flat foot deformity and secondary disorders due to military connection from 1975 to 1986. A medical opinion provided by a VA examiner from a review of records was associated with the Veteran's claims file in September 2021. He opined that the Veteran's left foot condition was less likely than not related to her service, to include the rigors of training in military issued footwear. He found that there was no evidence of a foot condition while in service and that the separation examination was negative for foot conditions, noting that the examinations were notably thorough, especially with respect to the feet. He concluded that it was highly unlikely a significant bilateral or left foot condition would have gone unnoted or unreported and that it was more likely than not that the Veteran's foot conditions had their origin in or around 2006. The Board acknowledges the July 2017, October 2019, and May 2021 VA examinations and negative opinions. However, they have all been found to be inadequate in previous Board decisions, and the Board cannot render a decision based on those opinions. See June 2018 Remand BVA or CAVC; February 2021 BVA Decision; August 2021 BVA Decision. Consequently, the Board finds that the probative evidence of record is at least in equipoise as to the issue of nexus. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that the third element of service connection is established. See Shedden, 381 F.3d at 1166-67. As all three elements of service connection are met, service connection for left foot condition is warranted. A. S. CARACCIOLO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board T. L. Park, 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.