Citation Nr: A21020085 Decision Date: 12/16/21 Archive Date: 12/16/21 DOCKET NO. 210716-172933 DATE: December 16, 2021 ORDER Service connection for bipolar syndrome is denied. FINDING OF FACT It is not possible to distinguish the symptoms attributable to the Veteran's bipolar disorder and the Veteran's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bipolar disorder have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 1131, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304; 3.307; 3.309. 3.310, 4.14. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the United States Navy from July 1988 to July 1990. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2021 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Appeals (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal is being adjudicated under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) appellate framework. In the July 2021 notice of disagreement (NOD) which commenced this appeal, the Veteran opted into the Direct Review docket. Therefore, the Veteran does not desire a personal hearing before the Board, and the record on appeal closed the date the Veteran was notified of the decision on appeal; June 29, 2021. The Board notes that the Veteran has additional claims on appeal. These will be addressed in separate Board decisions. Service connection for bipolar disorder is denied. At issue is whether the Veteran is entitled to service connection for bipolar disorder. The weight of the evidence indicates that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection. In seeking VA disability compensation, a Veteran generally seeks to establish that a current disability results from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. "Service connection" basically means that the facts, shown by evidence, establish that a particular injury or disease resulting in disability was incurred coincident with service in the Armed Forces, or if preexisting such service, was aggravated therein. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Furthermore, service connection can be established through application of statutory presumptions, including for chronic diseases like psychoses, when manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation from service. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Service connection may also be granted on a secondary basis for diseases that are proximately due to or aggravated by a previously service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. The Veteran was previously granted service connection for PTSD. See June 2021 Rating Decision Code Sheet. The Veteran underwent a VA examination in June 2021. The examiner diagnosed the Veteran with bipolar disorder, but the examiner opined that it was impossible to distinguish the symptoms between the Veteran's PTSD and the Veteran's bipolar disorder. The weight of the evidence indicates that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection for bipolar disorder. The Veteran clearly has a current diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In June 2021 however, a VA examiner opined that the Veteran's bipolar disorder symptoms were indistinguishable from the Veteran's PTSD symptoms. Additionally, the record is silent for a competent medical opinion challenging this determination. The practice of assigning multiple disability ratings for the same or similar symptomology under different diagnoses, also known as pyramiding, is to be avoided. 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. Therefore, service connection for bipolar disorder is denied. Here, the weight of the probative evidence of record simply fails to demonstrate that the Veteran is manifesting bipolar symptoms distinguishable from the Veteran's previously service-connected PTSD. Therefore, the evidence in this case is not so evenly balanced so as to allow application of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule as required by law and VA regulations. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. As such entitlement to service connection for bipolar disorder is denied. DAVID L. WIGHT Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board David R. Seaton, 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.