Citation Nr: 23017294 Decision Date: 03/20/23 Archive Date: 03/20/23 DOCKET NO. 16-19 170 DATE: March 20, 2023 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for prostate condition claimed as chronic prostatitis is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veterans chronic prostatitis is a result of his military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for prostate condition claimed as chronic prostatitis have been 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 served in the Army from March 1985 to December 1992. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from December 2015 Regional Office (RO) rating decision. This matter was previously remanded by the Board in January 2023 for additional development, including the issuance of an SSOC to address the issue of service connection for prostate cancer and to address the VA opinion provided in October 2022. An SSOC was issued in February 2023. However, the SSOC did not address the October 2022 VA opinion. Service Connection The law provides that service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. 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). Generally, establishing service connection requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. See Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). 1. Entitlement to service connection for a prostate condition claimed as chronic prostatitis The Veteran is seeking service connection for his prostate condition claimed as chronic prostatitis. The Board finds that service connection is warranted. Service treatment records show that the Veteran was seen for a genitourinary infection in 1992 and 1993. Post service treatment records show that he was seen for chronic prostatitis in March 1993, within a year following his discharge from service. A nexus opinion was provided in October 2022. The examiner opined that the Veteran has a diagnosis of chronic prostatitis that is at least as likely as incurred in or caused by the incident of service, to include noted clinical findings of prostatitis within a year of separation from active service in 1992 during service. The examiner noted that if in fact elevated PSA is a sign of prostate cancer, that would not be related to his chronic prostatitis. However, giving the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, the examiner stated that he could postulate that the incident in 1992-1993 was a genitourinary infection which may have resulted in the urethral stricture which has been noted in 2019. Urethral strictures pre-dispose to chronic prostatitis and the incident in 1992 was consistent with urethritis or epididymitis more than prostatitis. In sum, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's chronic prostatitis symptoms began in service and have continued since that time. He is competent to report what he has experienced through his senses, and the Board has no reason to question the credibility of his reports regarding the timeline of his symptomatology onset. These assertions are sufficient to establish the nexus element needed to link his current chronic prostatitis to his service given the treatment for and diagnosis of chronic prostatitis a year following his military service and the positive nexus opinion provided by the October 2022 VA examiner. Accordingly, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection for chronic prostatitis is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Martin T. Mitchell Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Vample, Erica 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.