Citation Nr: A21019317 Decision Date: 12/06/21 Archive Date: 12/06/21 DOCKET NO. 210927-187416 DATE: December 6, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease, claimed as due to exposure to herbicide, is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence of record is against finding that the Veteran has had ischemic heart disease at any time during or approximate to the pendency of the claim. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for ischemic heart disease, claimed as due to exposure to herbicide, are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 1137, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from May 1966 to April 1968, including service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board thanks him for his service to our country. In February 2021, the Veteran submitted a VA Form 20-0996, Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review (HLR), and requested review of a February 2021 supplemental claim decision that the claim for service connection for ischemic heart disease remained denied because the evidence submitted was not new and relevant. In May 2021, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) identified duty to assist errors and undertook additional development. In July 2021, the AOJ issued the decision on appeal, which it characterized as a Supplemental Claim decision to reflect the additional development it had undertaken. This decision implicitly found that new and relevant evidence had been received and denied the claim based on the evidence of record at the time of that decision. In the September 2021 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the AOJ decision on appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. The implicit finding in the July 2021 decision that new and relevant evidence had been received to readjudicate the claim on appeal is a favorable finding by the AOJ and the Board will proceed to the address the claim on the merits. See 38 U.S.C. § 5104A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.104(c). Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease, claimed as due to exposure to herbicide. The Veteran contends that he now has ischemic heart disease due to exposure to herbicide in Vietnam. The July 2021 decision on appeal made favorable findings that the Veteran performed service in the Republic of Vietnam, had sufficient service to meet the minimum requirement for presumptive service connection and was exposed to herbicides during military service. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 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). As the Veteran's exposure to herbicides is presumed, service connection would be warranted if ischemic heart disease became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more at any time after service. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307 (6)(ii); 3.309 (e). The question for the Board is whether the Veteran has a current disability that began during service or is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease. The Board concludes that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of ischemic heart disease and has not had one at any time during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing of the claim. Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 294 (2013); McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007). Private treatment records dated in 2011 and 2012 do not provide diagnoses of ischemic heart disease. The report of a February 2013 VA heart conditions examination makes the specific finding that the Veteran did not have ischemic heart disease. The report of an August 2020 VA Heart Conditions examination makes the specific finding that none of the Veteran's heart conditions qualified within the generally accepted medical definition of ischemic heart disease. While the Veteran believes that he now has ischemic heart disease due to exposure to herbicide during active duty, as a layperson he is not competent to opine as to this complex medical matter. Specialized medical training and expertise are required. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377, 1377 n.4 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Consequently, the Board gives more probative weight to the competent medical evidence discussed above. In light of the above, the Board finds that service connection for ischemic heart disease, claimed as due to exposure to herbicide, is not warranted and must be denied. In reaching this decision, the Board has considered the applicability of the benefit of the doubt doctrine. However, the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5107. Z. SAHRAIE Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Davitian, 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.