Citation Nr: 22013346 Decision Date: 03/09/22 Archive Date: 03/09/22 DOCKET NO. 16-42 265 DATE: March 9, 2022 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left hip osteoarthritis is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran currently suffers from left hip osteoarthritis, and the most probative medical evidence of record indicates that this disability is causally related to his ACDUTRA service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for left hip osteoarthritis are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from October 1979 to April 1980. He had additional active duty for training (ACDUTRA) in the Marine Corps Reserves. This case comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO); this case is in VA's legacy appeals system. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disability The Veteran contends that his current left hip osteoarthritis was caused by an injury he sustained during a period of ACDUTRA. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated while performing ACDUTRA or for an injury incurred or aggravated while performing INACDUTRA. 38 U.S.C. §§ 101(22)-(24), 106(d), 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.6(c), (d), 3.303. The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current disability of left hip osteoarthritis that is related to his reported fall off the side of a plane during a period of ACDUTRA. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). A VA examination of September 2020, as well as the Veteran's treatment records, show the Veteran has a current diagnosis of left hip osteoarthritis. The Veteran does not claim, and the record does not indicate, that this condition is related to his active service from October 1979 to April 1980. Thus, the question becomes whether the current disability is related to a period of ACDUTRA. On this question there is probative evidence in favor of and against the claim. The evidence against the claim includes the lack of any record of injury or treatment for a left hip condition during any period of ACDUTRA. The Veteran had ACDUTRA on the following dates: April 21-22, 1980; January 11-24, 1981; September 5-18, 1982; March 13-26, 1983; June 10-23, July 18-20, July 29-August 24, and November 4-17, 1984; July 27-August 10, and November 10-20, 1985; and April 19-May 4, 1986. His annual physical examinations do not note any complaint, diagnosis, or treatment of any left hip condition. The evidence in favor of the claim includes the Veteran's statements, his recent and current treatment records, and a September 2020 VA examination and opinion. The Veteran states that he injured his hip during a period of active duty for training when he fell from the wing of a plane he was servicing and landed in a sitting position. He did not report to sick call when this happened but did see a private doctor later. The Veteran's primary duty was listed at various times as refueler operator, heavy vehicle operator, and basic aircraft mechanic, which are consistent with the Veteran's description of working on an airplane wing before his fall. An April 2013 pelvic x-ray noted osteoarthritic changes in the Veteran's hips, and prominent bony changes involving the inferior pubis radius of the left, probably secondary to an old fracture. The record does not show any other injury that would have resulted in a fractured left hip. In September 2020, a VA examiner opined that the Veteran's left hip osteoarthritis is at least as likely as not caused by his reported fall. The rationale provided was that old injuries to joints can speed the degeneration of the cartilage in that joint, hastening the onset of osteoarthritis in that joint years later. There is no medical opinion of record contradicting the September 2020 VA examiner's opinion. Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence to at least be in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's current left hip osteoarthritis is related to his periods of ACDUTRA. Accordingly, after resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection for left hip osteoarthritis is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. L. M. BARNARD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Zimmerman, Micah 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.