Citation Nr: 21015280 Decision Date: 03/17/21 Archive Date: 03/17/21 DOCKET NO. 10-16 852 DATE: March 17, 2021 ORDER Service connection for gastritis is denied. FINDING OF FACTS The Veteran does not have a current disability of gastritis. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for gastritis have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 1154, 5103, 5013A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Marine Corps during Peacetime from November 1979 to July 1986. 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. § 1131; 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. The Veteran contends that he has gastritis, and that the gastritis began in, and is causally connected to, service. The Board finds that the weight of the lay and medical evidence shows that the Veteran does not have a current disability of gastritis. The Veteran was examined by VA in December 2020. The VA examiner assessed that after review of the evidence the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of gastritis or any other diagnosable stomach condition. The VA examiner noted the Veteran’s complaints of intermittent bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, regurgitation, vomiting, and nocturnal awakening. The examination found no symptoms of any stomach or duodenum condition; no hypertrophic gastritis; no postgastrectomy syndrome; no vagotomy; and no peritoneal adhesions. The VA examiner also assessed that the symptoms reported by the Veteran did not have any functional impact. A VA examination in November 2009 made similar findings. Imaging studies showed normal bowel gas patterns; no pathologic air-fluid levels were identified; there was no evidence of intraperitoneal free air or pneumatosis; no abnormal calcifications were identified; and normal physiologic amount of stool was found within the colon. The VA examiner found no weight loss or malnutrition; no anemia; no abnormal findings except for some abdominal tenderness; normal bowel sounds; non-distended soft abdomen; and no hepatosplenomegaly. While the Veteran has consistently described experiencing a number of gastric symptoms, no examiner has been able to render a diagnosis, and the described symptoms are not functionally impairing. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals noted that pain in the absence of a presently diagnosed condition may constitute a disability under 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1362 (2018). The same reasoning applies for a disability analysis for a peacetime veteran. However, for an undiagnosed condition to constitute a disability, the condition must impair normal functioning and reduce earning capacity – there must be functional impairment. Id. In this case, the 2020 VA examiner assessed that the reported symptoms did not result in any functional impairment. This assessment is in the context of normal clinical findings in 2009 and 2020 when examining the Veteran specifically for a gastric disorder. Other than the report of symptoms to medical professionals, the lay evidence also does not describe functional impairment as the evidence does now describe abnormal functioning or that these reported symptoms have reduce earning capacity. Consequently, because the Veteran does not have a diagnosed disability, nor are the reported symptoms functionally impairing, the Veteran does not have a current disability as required for service connection. With any claim for service connection (under any theory of entitlement), it is necessary for a current disability to be present. See Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992); see also McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007) (service connection may be warranted if there was a disability present at any point during the claim period, even if it is not currently present); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013) (when the record contains a recent diagnosis of disability immediately prior to a veteran filing a claim for benefits based on that disability, the report of diagnosis is relevant evidence that the Board must address in determining whether a current disability existed at the time the claim was filed or during its pendency). Thus, in the absence of competent evidence showing a current diagnosis of gastritis or functional impairment due to gastric symptoms, it is unnecessary to address the remaining elements of the claim for service connection. (Continued on the next page)   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 gastritis. 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.