Citation Nr: 22016386
Decision Date: 03/22/22	Archive Date: 03/22/22

DOCKET NO. 17-53 429
DATE: March 22, 2022

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for chronic prostatitis is granted.

Entitlement to service connection for nocturia is granted.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Veteran's chronic prostatitis was incurred during service.

2. The Veteran's nocturia is due to his chronic prostatitis.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for chronic prostatitis have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b) (2018); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304 (2021).

2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for nocturia have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b) (2018); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304 (2021).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

The Veteran served on active duty from December 1978 to January 2000.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

The Board notes that the Veteran originally filed a claim of service connection for both prostatitis and nocturia. See April 2013 claim. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) combined the issues when it issued the November 2013 rating decision on appeal. The Veteran has made it clear that he intended for the issues to be separate. See November 2013 notice of disagreement (NOD). The Board has thus bifurcated the issues and characterized them accordingly.

1. Entitlement to service connection for prostatitis.

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. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection requires evidence showing: (1) a current disability; (2) incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service; and (3) a nexus between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated in service. See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disability was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).

A June 2013 VA examiner diagnosed prostatitis. Although the examiner opined that the Veteran's chronic prostatitis was less likely than not related to his Gulf War service, she noted that the disability was diagnosed in 1997. Indeed, January 1997 service treatment records (STRs) reflect an assessment of "rule out prostatitis." In light of the VA examiner's opinion that the Veteran's chronic prostatitis was diagnosed during service and that the evidence of record otherwise reflects that the Veteran's disability was ongoing in nature, the Board finds that the Veteran's chronic prostatitis was incurred during service. Thus, service connection is warranted.

2. Entitlement to service connection for nocturia.

Establishing secondary service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability (for which secondary service connection is sought); (2) a service-connected disability; and (3) that the current disability was either caused or aggravated by the service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a); see also Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995).

The June 2013 VA examiner diagnosed nocturia and opined that it was the result of the Veteran's chronic prostatitis. The examiner discussed that enlargement of the prostate is a physiological condition and that the Veteran's nocturia was diagnosed in 2012. Because the evidence reflects that the Veteran's nocturia is due to his now service-connected prostatitis, service connection is warranted. 

 

E. I. VELEZ

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Sandler, 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.