Citation Nr: 21041123 Decision Date: 07/08/21 Archive Date: 07/08/21 DOCKET NO. 15-06 876A DATE: July 8, 2021 ORDER Service connection for sling palsy in the left arm is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran does not have a current disability associated with sling palsy in the left arm. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for the claimed sling palsy in the left arm have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1990 to April 1994. This matter is on appeal from a March 2012 rating decision issued by the Regional Office (RO) in Detroit, Michigan. The Veteran filed a notice of disagreement in May 2012. A statement of the case was issued in January 2015. The Veteran filed a substantive (VA Form 9) in March 2015. In a February 2018 Board Decision, the Board remanded the issue in order to schedule a Board hearing as per the Veteran's request. The Veteran testified in Detroit, Michigan, at a Board videoconference hearing in November 2018 before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. The hearing transcript has been associated with the record. This matter was before the Board again in March 2020. The Board remanded in order to obtain a VA examination and medical opinion. A VA examination was conducted in June 2021. A supplemental statement of the case was issued in June 2021. Duties to Notify and Assist The Board finds that the duties to notify and assist the Veteran in this case have been fulfilled. Neither the Veteran nor the representative has raised any issues with the duty to notify or duty to assist. See Scott v. McDonald, 789 F.3d 1375, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2015). Legal Authority for Service Connection Service connection may be granted for disability arising from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may 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). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. With any claim for service connection (under any theory of entitlement), it is necessary for a current disability to be present. See Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223 (1992); see also McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007) (service connection may be warranted if there was a disability present at any point during the claim period, even if it is not currently present); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013) (when the record contains a recent diagnosis of disability immediately prior to a veteran filing a claim for benefits based on that disability, the report of diagnosis is relevant evidence that the Board must address in determining whether a current disability existed at the time the claim was filed or during its pendency). Service Connection for Sling Palsy in the Left Arm The Veteran contends that the claimed sling palsy in the left arm was caused by the duties associated with the military occupational specialty (MOS) of rifleman. See DD Form 214. The Veteran explains that the butt of a rifle repeatedly hitting the left arm has caused sling palsy. After a review of all the lay and medical evidence of record, the Board finds that the weight of the evidence demonstrates that the Veteran does not have a current sling palsy disability in the left arm, either by diagnosis of showing of functional impairment. The evidence shows no current diagnosis associated with sling palsy in the left arm, or functionally impairing disabilities in the left arm. See Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1367-68 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (holding that pain can qualify as a disability where there is evidence of functional impairment of earning capacity). The Veteran underwent a VA examination in June 2021, the examination report for which shows the Veteran reported neuropathy symptoms in the left arm associated with sling palsy. The VA examiner did not render a peripheral nerve diagnosis in the left arm but did diagnose left lateral femoral cutaneous and left femoral neuropathies (both of which only pertain to the left leg). The VA examiner found no constant pain, intermittent pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, or numbness in the left upper extremity. The VA examiner also found that radial nerve, median nerve, ulnar nerve, musculocutaneous nerve, circumflex nerve, long thoracic, upper radicular group, middle radicular group, and lower radicular group were all normal. While the Veteran has sporadically reported numbness weakness, tingling, or numbness in the left arm, there is no formal diagnosis of record. In the absence of a current disability, the appeal for service connection for the claim sling palsy in the left arm must be denied. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Costantino, 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.