Citation Nr: 21023591
Decision Date: 04/21/21	Archive Date: 04/21/21

DOCKET NO. 14-36 085
DATE: April 21, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral glaucoma is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The competent and probative evidence of record indicates that the Veteran’s bilateral glaucoma had its onset in service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bilateral glaucoma have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1959 to December 1962, and from May 1980 to September 1981, with additional Reserve service. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Seattle, Washington.

In June 2018, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge via videoconference. A transcript of the hearing is of record.

In March 2019, the Board remanded the appeal for further development.

Based on the following, the Board finds that service connection for bilateral glaucoma is warranted.

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 military service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of three things: (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); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a).

Here, a January 1979 periodic examination shows that the Veteran’s eyes were found ophthalmoscopically clinically normal. However, a September 1980 optometry note, from the Veteran’s second period of active duty, suggests a possible diagnosis of early signs of glaucoma, and that the Veteran was referred for an IOP evaluation, which the Board notes is an indicated risk-factor for glaucoma.

In December 2019, the Veteran underwent a VA eye examination. The clinician noted the Veteran’s current diagnosis of bilateral glaucoma and found that such had its onset in 1980. In particular, she recounted the notations from his service records, when he was referred for a glaucoma evaluation. She explained that cup/disk rations of .75 and above are indicative of glaucoma, and that such was noted at the time of the Veteran’s September 1980 evaluation.

Accordingly, as the evidence indicates that the Veteran’s currently diagnosed 

 

bilateral glaucoma began during active duty, service connection is warranted. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d).

 

 

L. M. BARNARD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A.Z, 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.