Citation Nr: 21028452 Decision Date: 05/11/21 Archive Date: 05/11/21 DOCKET NO. 09-41 900 DATE: May 11, 2021 ORDER Service connection for headaches, to include as secondary to service-connected low back disability is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran's headaches are related to active service or are otherwise due to or aggravated by a service-connected low back disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for headaches, to include as secondary to service-connected low back disability have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1971 to February 1973. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from multiple rating decisions. The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans' Law Judge in August 2010 at a Board hearing. A transcript of the hearing is of record. The Board remanded the claims for further development in March 2020. The Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection is warranted for a disability which is proximately due to, aggravated by, or the result of a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. A finding of secondary service connection requires competent medical evidence to connect the asserted secondary disability to the service-connected disability. Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509, 512 (1998); Velez v. West, 10 Vet. App. 432 (1997). The Veteran contends that he has headaches that are due to his service-connected low back disability. [Service connection is in effect for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine.] VA medical records show the Veteran has experienced headaches. In May 2019, the Veteran underwent a VA examination which confirmed the Veteran's headaches. Specifically, the examiner noted gradual onset of worsening headaches in about 2003. The Veteran then underwent a second VA examination in April 2020 in order to determine the etiology of this disability. The examiner found that the diagnosed headache disorder is less likely than not proximately due to or aggravated beyond its natural progression by the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease. Specifically, the examiner noted that the May 2019 VA examination and VA medical records show that the Veteran's headaches are secondary to a right temporal lobe glioma. The examiner went on to conclude that this, combined with the fact that there were no noted headaches during service, show that his current headaches are the result of a right temporal lobe glioma and not the Veteran's low back disability. Therefore, service connection on a secondary basis is not warranted. This denial on the basis of secondary service connection does not preclude the Veteran from service connection on a direct basis. As stated previously, VA medical records and the May 2019 VA examination establish a current headache disability. Further, the Veteran has credibly claimed that his headache condition is the result of hand to hand combat training while in service. Therefore, the first two elements of a direct service connection claim have been met. Regarding, the third element, the April 2020 VA examiner found that it was less likely than not that the Veteran's headaches were related to service. The examiner found that although the Veteran has claimed headaches after his hand to hand combat training, there is no medical evidence of record to support such a claim. Further, as discussed above, the Veteran's medical records show the headaches to be secondary to a right temporal lobe glioma, which did not present until 2003, approximately 30 years after the Veteran left service. Therefore, the examiner found that the claimed hand to hand combat injury as a separate and discrete disease process from temporal glioma. As a result, the Board finds that the third element of a service connection claim has not been met and the Veteran's claim must be denied. The Board acknowledges the Veteran's own assertions in support of his claim. However, as a layperson without the appropriate medical training and expertise, the Veteran has not demonstrated the competency to opine as to the etiologies in this matter. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Furthermore, neither the Veteran nor his representative has presented or identified any additional medical opinion or other competent evidence that supports the Veteran's claim. Therefore, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim on both a direct and secondary basis. As such, the benefit of the doubt rule is not for application, and the claim must be denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Jorge Barroso, Associate 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.