Citation Nr: 22016227 Decision Date: 03/21/22 Archive Date: 03/21/22 DOCKET NO. 16-40 590A DATE: March 21, 2022 ORDER Service connection for a right foot disorder is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's right foot disorder is not related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a right foot disorder have not 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 1975 to January 1978. The case is on appeal from a May 2013 rating decision. In November 2020, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing. The claim presently before the Board was remanded to the regional office in February 2021 and October 2021. As the necessary development has been completed, the claim will be adjudicated in this decision. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Service connection for a right foot disorder Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. A veteran seeking compensation under these provisions must establish three elements: "(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." Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (quoting Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). For the chronic conditions listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a), service connection is available where the condition onset within a year after separation from service or on the basis of continuity of symptomatology. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. However, the diagnosed right foot disorders in this case are not among those listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). The Veteran claims that his right foot disorder, diagnosed as right foot pes cavus and calcaneal spurring is related to service, and specifically to an incident in which the Veteran was assaulted by a fellow servicemember in July 1976. In the February 2022 informal hearing presentation, the Veteran also noted that he went to his drill sergeant about being seen for his feet, but the drill sergeant said there was no need for medical treatment and that he would be okay once his boots were broken in and that his right foot disorder only worsened over time. Service treatment records (STRs) show that the Veteran's complaint of a twisted and swollen right foot in May 1977. However, it was noted that there were no bony, joint, or soft tissue abnormalities of the right foot. The Veteran also reported a right toe injury in August 1977. At the Veteran's December 1977 separation examination, the feet were noted as normal and the Veteran denied foot trouble on a December 1977 report of medical history at separation. Treatment records from the Social Security Administration dated as early as September 1994 note pain in feet and a December 1994 treatment record notes bilateral flexible pes cavus foot type which was causing foot pain. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination of his feet in March 2016 which noted the right foot pes cavus disorder with a diagnosis date of 1994 and right foot calcaneal spurring with a diagnosis date of 2012. However, no medical opinion for the right foot disabilities was provided. Pursuant to the February 2021 Board remand, the Veteran was afforded another VA examination in June 2021. The examiner found no right foot disorders present and, as a result, provided a negative medical opinion. Given the prior evidence of diagnoses of right foot pes cavus and calcaneal spurring, the Board rejected this medical opinion as inadequate in the October 2021 remand. Pursuant to the Board's October 2021 remand, a new medical opinion was obtained in December 2021. The examiner opined that the Veteran's right foot disorder was less likely than not related to service. In support, the examiner noted that the Veteran had a right foot injury during service, but that the separation examination from December 1977 was negative for a right foot condition. Further, May 1977 x-rays were also reported as negative for fracture or any other abnormalities of the right foot. Due to no mention of the condition from 1977 to 1994, the examiner opined that there was no evidence that the right foot condition was due to service. Finally, calcaneal spurring is not caused by or otherwise related to service, including as due to the reported 1976 in-service physical assault. The Board finds that the December 2021 medical opinion is the most probative evidence of record as to the etiology of the Veteran's right foot disorders, as the examiner applied the relevant medical principles to the Veteran's medical history in forming a conclusion. See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008). Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran's right foot disorders, diagnosed as pes cavus and calcaneal spurring are not related to service. As noted in the December 2021 medical opinion, the Veteran did experience a right foot injury in May 1977 but imaging and treatment for that injury found no abnormalities. Further, no abnormalities were found on examination or reported by the Veteran at separation. Rather, the evidence of record does not reveal that the Veteran experienced right foot symptoms until September 1994. While the Veteran is competent to report an injury during service, as well as his symptoms and treatment; without medical training, he is not competent to provide a medical opinion regarding the etiology of his right foot disorders. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Veteran now asserts that his foot problems began early during service and that he went to his drill sergeant about being seen for his foot problems but that the drill sergeant said that his feet would not hurt once his boots were broken in. However, he states that his foot problems got worse over time. The Veteran also claims that his right foot disorders are related to a July 1976 in-service assault. The pathology described by the Veteran is inconsistent with the medical evidence of record which shows that the Veteran did not seek medical treatment for his right foot until more than two years into active duty and stated that he had no foot problems on separation from service. See Curry v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 59, 68 (1994) (affirm the Board's rejection of a veteran's lay statements that were inconsistent with contemporaneous evidence). Further, the Veteran was provided with the opportunity to identify and obtain relevant medical evidence with VA's assistance in the development of this claim. However, medical records show that the Veteran did not seek treatment for a right foot disorder until 1994, about 15 years after service. There is no lay or medical evidence corroborating the Veteran's statements about the course of his right foot disorders in the first 15 years after separation from service. Finally, the December 2021 medical examiner opined that the Veteran's right foot disorders were less likely than not related to service, due to the finding of no right foot abnormalities in May 1977, the report by the Veteran of normal feet on separation, and the first treatment for the right foot in 1994. Therefore, the Board finds that the Veteran's right foot disorders are not related to service, and service connection for a right foot disorder is denied. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55 (1991). C. CRAWFORD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. George 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.