Citation Nr: 23022239 Decision Date: 04/13/23 Archive Date: 04/13/23 DOCKET NO. 19-15 867 DATE: April 13, 2023 ORDER An effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability is denied. An effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome is denied. An effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) received the Veteran's intent to file a claim on January 22, 2018, followed by his request to reopen previously denied claims for service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability and carpal tunnel syndrome on February 13, 2018. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for an effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400. 2. The criteria for an effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400. 3. The criteria for an effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from January 1980 to September 1995. His appeal is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an April 2018 rating decision issued by the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). In April 2022, he withdrew his request for a Board hearing. Earlier Effective Dates The Veteran seeks effective dates earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for his thoracolumbar spine disability, left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, and right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome. Essentially, he contends that the effective date for each disability should be based on his original, previously denied claims, which he believes the AOJ should have granted. See April 2022 Informal Hearing Presentation. After careful review, the Board finds that earlier effective dates are not warranted. Generally, the effective date of an evaluation and award of compensation is the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. When a claim is reopened and granted after a prior final denial, the effective date of an award for service connection cannot be earlier than the date VA received the request to reopen the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(q)(2), (r). The fact that a claimant previously applied for the same benefit, and was denied, is not relevant to the assignment of an effective date based on a reopened claim. Washington v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 391, 393 (1997); see also Sears v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 244, 248 (2002) (the Board may not "reach back to the date of the original claim as a possible effective date for an award of service-connected benefits that is predicated upon a reopened claim"). The record shows that the Veteran originally filed a claim for service connection for nerve damage and numbness in both hands in October 2004. The AOJ then denied service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome in a June 2005 rating decision. The AOJ later confirmed and continued its previous denial with rating decisions issued in August 2007, August 2008, and August 2009. The AOJ's prior denial of service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome is final because the Veteran did not appeal the August 2009 rating decision within one year of notification. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1103. Nor did VA receive new and material evidence prior to the expiration of the one-year appeal period. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b). He does not argue otherwise. In September 2007, the Veteran filed an original service connection claim for chronic lower back pain with muscle spasms. The AOJ denied this claim in the August 2008 rating decision. It later confirmed and continued the previous denial with the August 2009 rating decision and a September 2013 rating decision. The AOJ's prior denial of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability is final because the Veteran did not appeal the September 2013 rating decision within one year of notification, and VA did not receive new and material evidence prior to the expiration of the appeal period. He does not argue otherwise. On January 22, 2018, VA received the Veteran's intent to file another claim. About three weeks later, VA received his February 2013 VA Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Disability Benefits, which it construed as a request to reopen the previously denied claims. This request to reopen was considered filed as of the date of the intent to file a claim, because VA received the complete application form within one year of receipt of the intent to file. 38 C.F.R. § 3.155(b). Accordingly, the Board finds that January 22, 2018 is the correct date of receipt for the request to reopen the claims at issue here. The Veteran does not argue otherwise. The Board acknowledges the Veteran's general contention that the AOJ should have granted his previously denied claims. However, the Board cannot grant an effective date earlier than his January 2018 request to reopen. 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(q)(2), (r); Washington, 10 Vet. App. at 393; Sears, 16 Vet. App. at 248. Additionally, the Board finds no allegation of "clear and unmistakable error" in any of the prior final rating decisions that could warrant reversal or revision under 38 C.F.R. § 3.105(a). See e.g. Pierce v. Principi, 240 F.3d 1348, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (claimants alleging clear and unmistakable error in a prior final VA decision must describe the alleged error "with some degree of specificity" and explain why, but for the error, the result would have been "manifestly different"). The evidence is persuasively against assigning an earlier effective date for service connection, so the benefit-of-the-doubt rule is not applicable in this instance. Lynch v. McDonough, 21 F.4th 776, 781-82 (2021). An effective date earlier than January 22, 2018, for service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, and right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome is denied. KELLI A. KORDICH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board D.Z. Wall, 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.