Citation Nr: A25035705 Decision Date: 04/17/25 Archive Date: 04/17/25 DOCKET NO. 240918-474797 DATE: April 17, 2025 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a left ankle condition is denied. Entitlement to service connection for a right ankle condition is denied. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip condition is denied. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran does not have a current left ankle disability. 2. The Veteran does not have a current right ankle disability. 3. The Veteran's claim of service connection for a left hip condition must be denied as the claimed underlying conditions are not service connected. 4. The Veteran's claim of service connection for a left knee condition must be denied as the claimed underlying conditions are not service connected. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left ankle condition have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for right ankle condition have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 3. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a left hip condition have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. 4. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left knee condition have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from February 1994 to February 2000. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2024 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office, which is the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). In the September 2024 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the January 2024 AOJ decision on appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. Any evidence submitted after the AOJ decision on appeal cannot be considered by the Board. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.301, 20.801. If the Veteran would like VA to consider any evidence that was submitted that the Board could not consider, the Veteran may file a Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995) and submit or identify this evidence. 38 C.F.R. § 3.2501. If the evidence is new and relevant, VA will issue another decision on the claims, considering the new evidence in addition to the evidence previously considered. Id. Specific instructions for filing a Supplemental Claim are included with this decision. Service Connection 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 may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Direct service connection may not be granted without 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 disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is proximately due to, or the result of, a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). Secondary service connection may also be established for a disability which is aggravated by a service-connected disability. In order to prevail on secondary service connection, the record must show (1) evidence of a current disability; (2) evidence of a service-connected disability; and (3) competent evidence establishing that the service-connected disability caused or aggravated the nonservice-connected disability. See Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995) The existence of a current disability is the cornerstone of a claim for VA disability compensation. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; see Degmetich v. Brown, 104 F.3d 1328, 1332 (1997). In the absence of proof of a current disability, there can be no valid claim. Boyer v. West, 210 F.3d 1351, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). For the current disability element of a service connection claim to be met, the disability must be present at the time the claim was filed or at any time during the pendency of the appeal, even if it resolves prior to adjudication of the claim. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007). 1. Entitlement to service connection for left ankle condition. 2. Entitlement to service connection for right ankle condition. The Veteran contends that he is entitled to service connection for a left ankle and right ankle disability. An August 1995 service treatment record notes treatment for a left ankle sprain, and a March 1996 service treatment record notes complaints of right ankle pain. The Veteran did not seek treatment for an ankle disability in a VA facility. He submitted private treatment records. However, these private records do not contain complaints of, treatment for, or diagnosis of a left ankle or right ankle disability. The Veteran has not reported persistent or recurrent symptoms of a left ankle or right ankle disability. He also has not shown that he has symptoms associated with a left ankle or right ankle disability that result in functional impairment of earning capacity. Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2018). The Board acknowledges that the Veteran has not been provided a VA examination for his claimed left ankle and right ankle disabilities. The VA must obtain an examination when the evidence of record does not contain sufficient competent medical evidence to decide the claim, but (1) contains competent evidence of diagnosed disability or recurrent symptoms of disability, (2) establishes that the Veteran suffered an event, injury or disease in service, or has a presumptive disease during the pertinent presumptive period, and (3) indicates that the claimed disability may be associated with the in-service event, injury, or disease, or with another service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. §3.159 (c)(4); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83-86 (2006). Here, there is no competent evidence of a current left ankle or right ankle disability, nor are there symptoms of such. Therefore, no VA examination is required. Id. at 86. The Veteran's filing of a claim for service connection for a left ankle and right ankle disability does not itself provide competent evidence of a current disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability necessary for satisfying the first element of service connection. As there is no evidence of a current disability, the claims for entitlement to service connection for a left ankle and right ankle condition must be denied. 3. Entitlement to service connection for left hip condition. 4. Entitlement to service connection for left knee condition. The Veteran contends that he hurt his left ankle and right ankle while on active duty which has caused his left knee and hip to have issues. See January 2024 VA Form 21-526EZ. The January 2024 rating decision found that the Veteran has a diagnosis of left hip mild degeneration and left knee mild compartment degeneration. The Board is bound by these favorable findings. 38 C.F.R. § 3.104 (c). Thus, the first element of secondary service connection has been met. The underlying claims of entitlement to service connection for a left ankle and right ankle disability have been denied. Therefore, the second element of service connection has not been met. The Veteran does not assert, and the record does not indicate, that his left hip and left knee disabilities arose in service or were directly caused by an event or injury in service. Additionally, the evidence does not show that he has left hip or left knee arthritis that manifested within one year of separation from service to allow presumptive service connection for arthritis as a chronic disease. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). A March 2023 private medical record shows that the Veteran reported anterior left hip pain and medial left knee pain since late June 2022 and he did not recall any injuries which led to the pain. He separated from service in February 2000 and his symptoms did not begin until over 20 years later. As there is no service-connected left ankle or right ankle disability, there is no basis upon which to grant the Veteran's claim. Accordingly, entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition and left hip condition must be denied. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran has not been provided a VA examination for his claimed left knee and left hip disabilities. 38 C.F.R. §3.159 (c)(4); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83-86 (2006). Here, there is no medical or lay evidence establishing that the Veteran suffered an event, injury or disease in service or has a presumptive disease during the appropriate presumptive period. The Veteran does not have service-connected left or right ankle disabilities to support a theory of secondary service connection. Even if the second element set forth in McLendon were met, the medical evidence does not indicate that his left knee or left hip disabilities are related to service, and the Veteran has not provided lay evidence in support of direct service connection. Therefore, no VA examination is required. Id. at 86. . D. Martz Ames Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Dennis, 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.