Citation Nr: 21021181
Decision Date: 04/12/21	Archive Date: 04/12/21

DOCKET NO. 16-05 003
DATE: April 12, 2021

ORDER

The claim of entitlement to service connection for a right foot condition is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, his present right foot condition is etiologically related to his active duty service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for a right foot condition are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had honorable active duty service with the United States Air Force from May 1991 to March 2012.  The instant matter is on appeal from a June 2012 rating decision.

The Board remanded this issue for additional evidentiary development in September 2019.

1. The claim of entitlement to service connection for a right foot condition

The Veteran contends that his right foot condition was incurred during active duty service.

Generally, service connection will be granted for a disability resulting from an injury or disease caused or aggravated by service.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110.  A grant of service connection for a disability requires: (1) a present disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship (“nexus”) between the present disability and the in-service event, injury, or disease.  38 C.F.R. § 3.303; see Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013).

The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current disability of the right foot that was incurred during active service.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a).

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The Veteran reported that he injured his right foot fourth toe in a ski accident during active duty.  Service treatment records reflect a healed fracture of the right fourth digit with a subsequent rupture of the plantar aspect of the fourth toe with extension deformity that resulted in pain.  In January 2021, the Veteran underwent a VA examination to determine the etiology of his claimed right foot condition.  He was diagnosed with bilateral metatarsalgia, hammertoes, hallux valgus, and residuals of an injury during service.  The Veteran endorsed symptoms of soreness and pain that developed during his active duty service for which he received prescription orthotics.  The examiner noted that the Veteran’s service treatment records documented injury to the right foot during service and concluded that the right foot condition was at least as likely as not related to his active duty service.

Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence to at least be in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s current right foot disability was incurred in service.  Accordingly, after resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection for a right foot condition is warranted.  38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102.

 

 

R. Erdheim

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	H. Fisher, 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.