Citation Nr: 21032817 Decision Date: 05/28/21 Archive Date: 05/28/21 DOCKET NO. 17-56 960 DATE: May 28, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for osteoarthritis of the right knee disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in at least relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran's right knee osteoarthritis was incurred in or otherwise related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for osteoarthritis of the right knee 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 October 1978 to October 1983 and October 1985 to August 1989. This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) arose from an April 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). See May 2013 Notice of Disagreement (NOD); August 2017 Statement of the Case (SOC); October 2017 Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in a November 2019 hearing. See November 2019 Hearing transcript. In February 2020, the Board denied the Veteran's claim. February 2020 Board decision The Veteran appealed the February 2020 Board decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and, through a Joint Motion for Remand, the claim was remanded for further development of the evidence. See December 2020 CAVC decision. The case is now back before the Board. The Veteran submitted additional evidence into the record after the December 2020 CAVC decision that, as discussed below, the Board has considered in this decision. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, to include arthritis. The Veteran asserts entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability based on an in-service knee injury while playing football. May 2013 NOD. The Veteran relates that he hyperextended his right knee, was told he had torn ligaments, and used a crutch for weeks after the injury. Id. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection is established when there is competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a), (d). Service connection may also 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). In determining whether service connection is warranted for a disability, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the Veteran prevailing in either event, or whether a preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53-56 (1990). After careful and thorough consideration of the evidence, the Board finds that the evidence supports the Veteran's current right knee disability as incurred in or otherwise related to service. The medical treatment evidence supports that the Veteran has a current right knee disability, diagnosed as mild medial and patellofemoral compartment osteoarthritis. See August 2018 Correspondence. The evidence also supports that the Veteran injured his right knee in a football game during his first period of service. September 1982 Service treatment record. The Veteran continued to complain of knee problems in his second period of service and was diagnosed with mild laxness of the right cruciate ligaments. December 1987 Service treatment record; January 1988 Service treatment record; February 1988 Service treatment record. Private treatment provider E T, M.D., indicated that the Veteran is being treated for right knee pain, which he reports started while playing sports during service. November 2019 Private treatment evidence. In a more recent statement submitted after the December 2020 CAVC decision, Dr. E T opined that the Veteran's right knee symptoms suggest a ligamentous injury with arthritis, and that his chronic intermittent right knee pain is at least as likely as related to his in service injury while playing football. March 2021 Private treatment evidence. The Board notes that Dr. E T is the only medical opinion of record on whether there is a medical link between the Veteran's current right knee disability and service. Dr. E T is also a medical professional qualified to opine on the cause of the Veteran's right knee disability and has been treating the Veteran's right knee pain since 2015. The Board finds the opinion to be probative. Based on the evidence above, the Board finds that the evidence is in at least relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran's right knee disability, diagnosed medial and patellofemoral compartment osteoarthritis, was incurred in or otherwise related to service. Accordingly, entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is warranted. The Board recognizes that the December 2020 CAVC decision directed that the Board further develop the evidence. That development is no longer necessary as this decision is considered a full grant of benefits sought on appeal. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Lin 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.