190508-12276

• Court: Board of Veterans' Appeals
• Decided: October 31, 2019
• Docket: 190508-12276
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Citation Nr: AXXXXXXXX Decision Date: 10/31/19 Archive Date: 10/31/19

DOCKET NO. 190508-12276 DATE: October 31, 2019

ORDER

Service connection for right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty is granted.

VETERAN’S CONTENTIONS

The Veteran contends that his right knee condition began in service. See January 2019 application for disability compensation and related compensation benefits. He further asserts that the denial of service connection for his right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty is contradictory to the favorable findings in the March 2019 rating decision, which state that the Veteran was diagnosed with a disability; the VA examination dated February 13, 2019 showed that he has a current diagnosis of right knee meniscal tear, right knee joint osteoarthritis and right knee total arthroplasty; the evidence shows that a qualifying event, injury, or disease had its onset during his service; and service treatment records dated August 2, 1976 note right knee pain. See May 2019 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement).

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran’s right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty had its onset during his active duty service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from June 1976 to November 1979. He filed the claim currently on appeal in January 2019. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2019 rating decision by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ).

On August 23, 2017, the President signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 115-55 (to be codified as amended in scattered sections of 38 U.S.C.), 131 Stat. 1105 (2017), also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). This law creates a new framework for Veterans dissatisfied with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s decision on their claim to seek review. The Veteran opted into the AMA review system when he submitted a May 2019 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement). This decision has been written consistent with the new AMA framework.

In the Veteran’s May 2019 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), he selected direct review by a Veterans Law Judge. In adjudicating the claim of entitlement to service connection for right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty, the Board may consider evidence associated with the record through the March 2019 rating decision on appeal.

In regard to the right knee, the AOJ favorably determined that: 1) the Veteran was diagnosed with a disability; 2) the VA examination dated February 13, 2019 showed that he has a current diagnosis of right knee meniscal tear, right knee joint osteoarthritis and right knee total arthroplasty; 3) the evidence shows that a qualifying event, injury, or disease had its onset during his service; and 4) service treatment records dated August 2, 1976 note right knee pain. See March 2019 rating decision.

Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) an 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 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999); Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995), aff’d per curiam, 78 F. 3d 604 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (table).

The Board acknowledges that the February 2019 VA examiner provided a negative nexus opinion. However, as noted above, the AOJ determined that the evidence shows that a qualifying event, injury, or disease had its onset during his service and the Veteran has a current diagnosis. See March 2019 rating decision. Further, the Board finds that the Veteran’s contention regarding the onset of his right knee condition in service to be competent and credible. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994); Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2006). Accordingly, resolving doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for right knee meniscal tear with osteoarthritis status post total arthroplasty is warranted.

S.C. Krembs

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board C. Samuelson, 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.