Citation Nr: 21023372 Decision Date: 04/20/21 Archive Date: 04/20/21 DOCKET NO. 16-13 797 DATE: April 20, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for decompression sickness (DCS) type II/arterial gas embolism (AGE)/lung disability is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran does not have a current disability of DCS type II/AGE/lung disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for DCS type II/AGE/lung disability have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 1137, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the military from January 1994 to January 2014. The matter comes to the Board from an April 2014 rating decision, which denied the claim. Within the VA Form 9, Appeal to the Board, the Veteran had requested a hearing, which was originally scheduled for January 2020, but was postponed. The hearing was rescheduled for March 2021, but was cancelled by the Veteran. Thus, the hearing request is deemed withdrawn. Service Connection Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship, i.e., a nexus, between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d, 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Entitlement to service connection for DCS type II/AGE/lung disability The Veteran contends that entitlement to service connection for DCS type II/ AGE/lung disability is warranted because it was incurred in service. The Board has carefully reviewed the evidence of record and finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has a current disability of the DCS type II/AGE/lung disability during the appeal period. Therefore, service connection is not warranted. The reasons follow. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination for his claimed DCS type II/AGE/lung disability in March 2014. The Veteran reported to the examiner that he had a history of an episode of decompression syndrome and described feeling like he had good breathing but felt he had less capacity. However, the VA examination was normal. The findings included normal diagnostic testing and imaging including normal pulmonary function testing and a normal chest x-ray. The VA examiner found the Veteran did not have any diagnosed disability at that time. The VA examiner findings were consistent with VA treatment records, which showed normal lung findings throughout beginning in July 2014 through at least August 2019. These normal findings included clear to auscultation, bilaterally, good respiratory excursion, denied shortness of breath, denied dyspnea, denied cough, symmetrical chest movement, no crackles, and no wheezes. In March 2019 treatment records the Veteran was noted to have a cough and coarse lung sounds, but he was noted to have had an illness for 2 weeks at that time. Thus, given the March 2014 VA examiner’s finding that the Veteran did not have a lung disability and the normal VA treatment record findings, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding of a current DCS type II/AGE/lung disability during the appeal period or proximate thereto. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013). As there is no current disability, service connection cannot be warranted. The Board is mindful of Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356 (2018), in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit explained that where pain alone results in functional impairment that affects earning capacity, even if there is no identified underlying diagnosis, it can constitute a disability. The Veteran does not contend that that he has had functional impairment affecting his earning capacity related to DCS type II/AGE/lung disability, and the evidence of record does not show that the Veteran had such functional impairment. The March 2014 VA examination report reflects that the Veteran did not report flare-ups that impact the function of the lungs or any functional loss or functional impairment of the lungs, regardless of repetitive use. Thus, even considering the holding in Saunders, the Board finds the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran has a current disability that causes functional impairment of earning capacity. The Veteran submitted a VA training letter in April 2015, but the letter noted only possible conditions that could develop from diving. Though the Veteran participated in diving in service, the training letter does not help to support a finding that the Veteran has a current disability. For all the reasons laid out above, the Board finds the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for DCS type II/AGE/lung disability. The benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine is not for application, and the claim is denied. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. A. P. SIMPSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Patton 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.