Citation Nr: 21009851 Decision Date: 02/23/21 Archive Date: 02/23/21 DOCKET NO. 17-54 181 DATE: February 23, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by dizziness is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has a current disability manifested by dizziness. 2. The most probative evidence shows that orthostasis, claimed as dizziness, is a symptom of service-connected headaches. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by orthostasis, claimed as dizziness, have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1976 to August 1977. In September 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). The Board notes that while substantial compliance with remand directives is required, strict compliance is not. D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97 (2008). Entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by orthostasis, claimed as dizziness The Veteran seeks entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by dizziness. In an April 2020 statement, the Veteran stated that headaches were the result of being hit in the head during service. He stated that headaches occurred every day and that he became “dizzy and lightheaded with the headaches, and ha[d] even [fallen] down due to dizziness.” There are no diagnoses of a disability characterized dizziness in the medical records. In April 2018, a private doctor noted that dizziness was a symptom associated with diagnosed tension headaches. A July 2019 VA examiner noted that dizziness was a symptom associated with the Veteran’s reports of headaches. In a December 2020 medical opinion, a VA examiner stated that there was no “isolated diagnosis of orthostasis or dizziness. There [was] dizziness as [a] symptom associated with headaches since service, that has persisted over the years…” The examiner noted that orthostasis was caused by a decrease in blood pressure and there was no evidence of decreased blood pressure in the record. The examiner explained that dizziness was not an uncommon consequence of headaches. The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding the Veteran has a current disability manifested by dizziness. The Board is not free to substitute its own judgment for that of a medical expert. Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 171 (1991). The Veteran’s reports of dizziness have been noted by several medical professionals, to include the Veteran’s own doctors. However, no medical professional has diagnosed any disability characterized by dizziness. Instead, medical professionals have stated that dizziness was a symptom of service-connected headaches. The Veteran has established service connection for headaches and has been assigned a 50 percent rating. The criteria for the assignment of a 50 percent rating for headaches contemplate migraine headaches with very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability. 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a. Because the rating criteria for rating headaches contemplate an evaluation of the level of economic inadaptability due to very frequent prostrating and prolonged attacks, the Board finds that the symptom of dizziness shown due to the headaches is contemplated in the rating criteria. Thus, that symptoms is already compensated in the assigned rating for headaches and to assign any separate rating for the symptomatology would constitute prohibited pyramiding. 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. No separate disability manifested by dizziness has been diagnosed which could be service-connected as a separate entity. The Veteran complained of dizziness in conjunction with headaches. The Board notes that 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 dizziness requires medical training and expertise which the Veteran has not been shown to possess. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). 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 that there is any separate disability manifested by dizziness. Accordingly, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for a disability characterized by dizziness, 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.