Citation Nr: 21010762 Decision Date: 02/25/21 Archive Date: 02/25/21 DOCKET NO. 15-23 623 DATE: February 25, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a right ankle disability, including as secondary to bilateral plantar fasciitis, is denied. Service connection for a left ankle disability, including as secondary to bilateral plantar fasciitis, is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of degenerative arthritis and tendonitis of the right ankle. 2. The Veteran injured the right ankle during service in October 2008 during training at Fort Leonard Wood. 3. The current degenerative arthritis and tendonitis are not related to a disease, injury, or event in service. 4. The Veteran is currently service-connected for plantar fasciitis. 5. The current degenerative arthritis and tendonitis are not caused by, or increase in severity beyond the natural progress of the disease by, any service-connected disability, to include plantar fasciitis. 6. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of tendonitis of the left ankle. 7. The Veteran injured the left ankle during training at Fort Leonard Wood in October 2008. 8. The current tendonitis is not related to an injury or event in service. 9. The Veteran is currently service connected for plantar fasciitis. 10. The current tendonitis of the left ankle are not caused by, or increase in severity beyond the natural progress of the disease by, any service-connected disability, to include plantar fasciitis. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for degenerative arthritis and tendonitis of the right ankle have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5103, 5013A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.310. 2. The criteria for service connection for tendonitis of the left ankle have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1154, 5103, 5013A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA) in the Army National Guard during the Gulf War Era from April 2008 to December 2008, including a period of ACDUTRA from October 2008 to December 2008. 1. Service Connection for Right Ankle Disorder is Denied 2. Service Connection for Left Ankle Disorder is Denied Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may 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). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. Service connection may be granted for a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). When service connection is thus established for a secondary condition, the secondary condition shall be considered a part of the original condition. See id.; Harder v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 183, 187 (1993). The controlling regulation has been interpreted to permit a grant of service connection not only for disability caused by a service-connected disability, but for the degree of disability resulting from aggravation of a non-service-connected disability by a service-connected disability. See Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995). In other words, service connection may be granted for a disability found to be proximately due to, or the result of, a service-connected disease or injury. To prevail on the issue of secondary service causation, the record must show (1) evidence of a current disability, (2) evidence of a service-connected disability, and (3) medical nexus evidence establishing a connection between the current disability and the service-connected disability. See Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509, 512 (1998); Reiber v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 513, 516-17 (1995). The Veteran reports that during boot camp in October 2008, on an exercise, a fellow recruit fell on her feet from behind, injuring her feet and ankles. The Veteran has also contended that the current ankle disabilities are caused by altered gait as secondary to service-connected bilateral plantar fasciitis. The evidence shows a current disability of degenerative arthritis and tendonitis of the right ankle, and tendonitis of the left ankle. These disabilities were diagnosed by a VA examiner in February 2020. The Veteran sustained injuries to the feet October 2008, and is currently service connected for plantar fascia tears in both feet. These tears were previously determined by the Board to be caused by the October 2008 training injury. See December 2012 BVA Decision. After reviewing the evidence, lay and medical, the Board finds that the current degenerative arthritis and tendonitis of the right ankle, and tendonitis of the left ankle, are not causally related to the October 2008 injury or any other event during service, nor are they causally related to the service-connected plantar fasciitis. The February 2020 VA examination that diagnosed the current ankle disabilities provided a negative nexus opinion on the question of relationship between current ankle disabilities and service. The VA examiner opined that the ankle conditions during service appeared benign, based on the examiner’s observations and X-ray evidence. The VA examiner noted that, because of the large amount of time between the claimed incident and the current complaints, coupled with the benign nature of the conditions, they were unable to correlate the current ankle conditions with service. The February 2020 VA Examination report outweighs the private physician’s secondary service connection opinion. The VA examiner’s findings are consistent with a finding of not altered gait, namely, no decline in muscle strength, or evidence of muscle atrophy, and the VA examiner did not note evidence of guarding, or circumstantial evidence of an altered gait. The other evidence of record does not indicate the existence of an altered gait. Accordingly, the Board finds that in this case there is no altered gait caused by the service-connected foot disabilities. The Veteran provided a statement from a private physician. The physician noted chronic arthralgias of each ankle, and inaccurately assumed as a fact that the service-connected foot disabilities resulted in chronic gait compensation. The rest of the opinion was that the assumed chronic gait compensation led to the ankle arthralgias. See March 2019 Private Treatment Report. As such, the private examiner’s factual assumption that there is an altered gait is an inaccurate factual assumption that renders the private opinion of no probative value. See Reonal v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 458 (1993). For the reasons described above, the Board finds that a preponderance of the lay and medical evidence is against the Veteran’s claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the right ankle and tendonitis of the right and left ankle, including as secondary to the service-connected plantar fasciitis. For these reasons, the appeal must be denied. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Charles Plambeck 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.