Citation Nr: 21006731 Decision Date: 02/05/21 Archive Date: 02/05/21 DOCKET NO. 16-08 133 DATE: February 5, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has not had a diagnosis of a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating at any point during or contemporary to the period on appeal. 2. The preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has a current disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1965 to September 1967. In June 2020, the Board remanded this case for additional development. The Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand requests. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating The Veteran seeks entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating. In an October 2010 statement, the Veteran stated that since separation from service, he had high fevers and sweat profusely “when [his] immune system [was] weak.” In June 2014, the Veteran stated that while taking cover in a rice paddy during a firefight in Vietnam in 1967, he was exposed to environmental and human waste for more than 12 hours. He stated that he immediately developed a fever and has had unexplained fevers since. There are no in-service or post-service medical records showing a diagnosed disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating. Although medical records show that the Veteran complained of intermittent fevers, sweating, and chills there is no evidence of a diagnosis of or treatment for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, or sweating. In October 1998, the Veteran reported an increase in frequency of anxiety attacks characterized by tachycardia and “cold sweats.” In January 1999, the Veteran reported that PTSD symptoms caused him to wake up in sweats. A September 2002 VA examiner stated that the Veteran’s panic attacks had increased in number and severity. During a September 2016 VA examination, the Veteran reported one to three daily episodes of coldness, shivering, and chills which lasted from one to ten minutes. The Veteran also reported one to three daily episodes of “sweating from excessive heat” which lasted for five minutes. The Veteran denied abnormal temperature readings. The examiner examined the Veteran, reviewed the claims file, and noted the Veteran’s history. There was no diagnosis. The examiner stated that there was no medical evidence to support any etiology for the symptoms, and there was no evidence connecting the symptoms to any service-connected disabilities. During an August 2020 VA examination, the Veteran reported sweating at random times and becoming “cold inside and then… sweat[ing] from forehead and arms.” He also reported fevers but stated that he did not have a thermometer to check his temperature. The Veteran stated that “he had been told in the past his symptoms [were] due to his PTSD.” The examiner made no diagnosis and stated that “the [V]eteran’s reported and claimed symptoms [did] not warrant any additional conditions. However, based on [the] record review, it [was] at least as likely as not that the [V]eteran’s symptoms …[were] related to his PTSD.” The medical evidence shows that the Veteran has not been diagnosed with any disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, or sweating, at any time during the course of the appeal. The Board notes that the presence of a current disability is the cornerstone of a claim for VA disability compensation. In the absence of evidence of a disability, there can be no valid claim of service connection. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992). The preponderance of the evidence is against a finding the Veteran has a current disability manifested by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating. The Veteran’s reports have been noted by several medical professionals, to include the Veteran’s own doctors. However, no medical professional has diagnosed any disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating. The Veteran has not supplied any medical evidence of such a disability. The Board has considered the Veteran's lay statements. The Veteran is competent to report observable symptoms. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465 (1994). However, the diagnosis and etiology a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating requires medical training and expertise which the Veteran has not been shown to possess. Therefore, the Veteran is not competent, and his assertions are assigned no probative weight. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Board acknowledges that the August 2020 VA examiner related the Veteran’s symptoms to service-connected PTSD. The Board notes that a September 2002 VA examiner stated that the Veteran’s panic attacks, which included cold sweats, had increased in number and severity. Based, in part, on the examiner’s findings, a 100 percent rating for service-connected PTSD was assigned. As the maximum 100 percent schedular rating for PTSD permitted under 38 C.F.R. § 4.125, Diagnostic Code 9411, was assigned from March 19, 2002, a disability rating in excess of 100 percent for service-connected PTSD is not warranted for any period. 38 U.S.C. § 7104. To the extent that the claimed symptoms are due to PTSD, those symptoms were considered in determining the social and industrial impairment due to PTSD. Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for a disability characterized by high fevers, fluctuating body temperature, and sweating, and the claim must be denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). Harvey P. Roberts Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs 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.