Citation Nr: 22015099 Decision Date: 03/16/22 Archive Date: 03/16/22 DOCKET NO. 19-17 469 DATE: March 16, 2022 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for peripheral vestibular disorder, namely benign paroxysmal positing vertigo, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's peripheral vestibular disorder had its onset during service or is otherwise etiologically related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for peripheral vestibular disorder 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 November 1983 to September 1987. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from November 2018 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In November 2021, the Veteran reported for a Board hearing with the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A hearing transcript has been associated with the record. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral vestibular disorder is granted. The Veteran asserts that his peripheral vestibular disorder is due to service. Specifically, during the November 2021 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that he received blunt trauma to his head during basic training, and that due to this trauma, he has peripheral vestibular disorder. The Veteran testified that this head trauma occurred while he was training in hand to hand combat during basic training. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection requires: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004); see also Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498 (1995). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when the evidence establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(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). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). Service treatment records are negative for any complaints, treatments, or diagnoses associated with vertigo. In a July 1987 discharge examination, the Veteran's systems were found to be normal. In a corresponding Report of Medical History, the Veteran denied to having had any issues associated with his head. Turning to the question of whether there is an etiological relationship between the Veteran's service and his diagnosed benign paroxysmal positing vertigo, the Board notes that the record contains two etiology opinions which must be considered and weighed. See Hayes v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 60, 69-70 (1993). When faced with conflicting medical opinions, the Board may favor one medical opinion over the other. See Evans v. West, 12 Vet. App. 22, 30 (1998). The Board will consider each of these opinions below. A November 2018 VA examiner opined that the claimed vertigo condition was less likely than not proximately due to or otherwise due to a service-connected condition. In support of this opinion, the examiner explained that the Veteran did not have Meniere's disease and that there are many causes for vertigo. The examiner did concede that the etiology of the vertigo is not completely clear and noted that tinnitus in general is not considered a cause of vertigo or Meniere's disease. The Board provides this opinion with less probative weight, as the opinion did not provide any opinion and rationale with regards to direct service connection or consider aggravation by a service-connected disability. Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008); El-Amin v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 136 (2013). A December 2021 opinion from T.H., a private audiologist reported that the Veteran's testing showed rotary nystagmus indicative of benign paroxysmal positing vertigo. The audiologist also opined that given the Veteran's report of head trauma which rendered the Veteran unconscious for a brief period of time during basic training and given known etiology regarding head injury as a known cause of benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo, it is likely that the Veteran's head injury during service is directly related to vertigo. The Board finds the December 2021 private opinion, in the context of the entirety of the evidence, highly probative as the audiologist reviewed the entire record and provided an adequate rationale, the bases of which is consistent with the evidence of record. The Board finds the December 2021 opinion highly probative as the examiner reviewed the claims file, interviewed the Veteran, and provided an opinion supported by a clear rationale. Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, supra. In sum, the Veteran has competently and credibly reported that he began experiencing symptoms that were attributed to a later diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo, during his active service and since. The Veteran has current diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positing vertigo. The December 2021 private etiology opinion indicates the Veteran's benign paroxysmal positing vertigo is more likely than not as a result of his active service, to include a reported head trauma. Moreover, there is no sufficient basis for the Board to reject this supportive opinion and to further develop this issue. Cf. Mariano v. Principi, 17 Vet. App. 305 (2003) (holding that, because it is not permissible for VA to undertake additional development to obtain evidence against an appellant's case, VA must provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for its decision to pursue such development where such development could be reasonably construed as obtaining additional evidence for that purpose). Accordingly, after resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise for the issue of entitlement to service connection for benign paroxysmal positing vertigo, and it is granted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, supra. KRISTY L. ZADORA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A.J. Kim, 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.