BVA9500498 DOCKET NO. 93-11 037 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville, Tennessee THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for disability manifested by chest pain. 2. Entitlement to service connection for disability manifested by roaring in the ears. 3. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of frozen feet. 4. Entitlement to service connection for ulcer disease. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Tennessee Department of Veterans' Affairs ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Milo H. Hawley, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from October 1943 to December 1945. He was a prisoner of war of the German Government from August 1944 to April 1945. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of October 1992 by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee (RO). CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL It is contended that the veteran has chest pains, roaring in the ears, bilateral foot problems, and digestive problems, directly as a result of his prisoner-of-war experience. It is asserted that his stomach and digestive problems started soon after leaving the service and have progressively gotten worse. It is also asserted that his chest pains have occurred with increased frequency and that a roaring in his ears has gotten worse over the years. It is also contended that frozen feet during service could be the cause of constant pain in his legs and feet. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. Based on its review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the veteran's claims for service connection for disabilities manifested by chest pain and roaring in the ears, residuals of frozen feet, and ulcer disease, are not well grounded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The veteran served as a prisoner of war of the German Government from August 1944 to April 1945. 2. Disability manifested by chest pain, including arteriosclerotic heart disease and ischemic heart disease, were not demonstrated until December 1973 and February 1974, respectively. The veteran did not experience localized edema during captivity. 3. Disability manifested by roaring in the ears was not shown during active service and clinical evidence of tinnitus is not reported until August 1992. 4. Organic residuals of frostbite of the feet has not been demonstrated. 5. Ulcer disease, including peptic ulcer, was not shown during service, chronically since service, and is not currently manifested. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran has not submitted evidence of well-grounded claims, and there is no matter before the Board for review. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 5107, 7104, 7105, 7108 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The threshold question to be answered in this case is whether the veteran has presented evidence of well-grounded claims; that is claims which are plausible. If he has not presented well- grounded claims, his appeal must fail and there is no duty to assist him further in the development of that claim because such additional development would be futile. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107. As will be explained below, we find that his claims are not well grounded. I. Chest Pain Service medical records reflect no complaint, finding, or treatment for any cardiovascular disability. The report of his December 1945 service separation examination indicates that his blood pressure was 112/72, and his cardiovascular system was normal. The record does not indicate that the veteran experienced any localized edema during his time as a prisoner of war from August 13, 1944, to April 29, 1945. A December 1973 VA hospital discharge summary states that the veteran had a history of two previous documented myocardial infarctions, the first being in January 1973 and the second three weeks prior to his hospitalization in December 1973. The veteran gave a 20-year history of constant mild aching chest pain first noted when he stretched his arms. He stated that those pains were not typically associated with shortness of breath, diaphoresis, cough, or nausea. He reported a second time of chest pain first noted about one week prior to his first myocardial infarction in January 1973. The diagnoses included organic heart disease due to arteriosclerotic heart disease. A February 1974 VA hospital discharge summary includes the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. The claim is that the veteran currently has disability manifested by chest pains that is related to his prisoner-of-war experience. The only chronic disability which has been identified in the record as causing chest pains is the veteran's heart disease. The first clinical evidence of record diagnosing heart disease is in 1973. While ischemic heart disease was diagnosed in 1974, service connection on a presumptive basis is not in order because the veteran did not experience localized edema during captivity. As the veteran has failed to submit evidence showing a medical relationship between his heart disease, either on a direct or presumptive basis, and his active service, a claim for service connection for disability manifested by chest pain is not well grounded. Grivois v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 136 (1994). Since he has not met the burden of submitting evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claim is well grounded, there is no further duty to assist him in the development of that claim. Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 609 (1992). Since the claim is not well grounded, the Board does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate it and it must, accordingly, be dismissed. Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91 (1993); Boeck v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 14 (1993). II. Ears and Frozen Feet Service medical records are silent for any complaint, finding, or treatment for disability manifested by roaring in the ears or by residuals of frozen feet. The report of the veteran's December 1945 service separation examination states that his feet were normal, that he had no ear abnormality, and that his hearing was 15/15 bilaterally. The report of an August 1992 VA audiology examination states that the veteran had the onset of tinnitus approximately 6 to 8 months before of an unknown etiology. The reports of August 1992 vascular and dermatology examinations indicate that the veteran had no abnormality of the skin, had no intermittent claudication, had normal color and temperature of the legs, normal function and sensation of the legs, good femoral pulses, and weak pedal pulses. No diagnosis was offered identifying any disability residual to frozen feet. Although the veteran served as a prisoner of war in Germany during the winter, which would qualify as being interned in climatic conditions consistent with the occurrence of frostbite, post service records, including current examination, reflect no residuals related to frostbite. Tinnitus was not shown clinically during service or for more than 45 years following service discharge. As the veteran has failed to submit evidence showing a medical relationship between his currently diagnosed tinnitus and his active service or that any current residuals of frozen feet exists, claims for service connection for roaring in the ears and frozen feet are not well grounded. Grivois. With respect to these issues, the veteran has not submitted evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claim is well grounded and no further development of his claim is required. Tirpak. Because his claim is not well grounded, the Board does not have jurisdiction and it must be dismissed. Grottveit; Boeck. III. Ulcer Where a veteran has been a prisoner of war for not less than 30 days and develops peptic ulcer disease at any time thereafter, service connection may be granted if the presumptive requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 are met. The veteran currently contends that he has had stomach and digestive problems continuously since his prisoner-of-war experience. The Board notes that service connection for irritable colon syndrome, evaluated as 10 percent disabling, has been established. Again, service medical records are silent for complaint, finding, or treatment of any ulcer disease. The report of his December 1945 service separation examination reflects no pertinent abnormality. A May 1949 VA hospital discharge summary reflects no pertinent abnormality. During an August 1955 hospitalization, the veteran was examined for ulcer disease. A gastrointestinal series was accomplished and his esophagus, stomach, and duodenum were found to be within normal limits. The diagnoses included examined for duodenal ulcer, not found. A January 1956 letter from W. C. Ramer, M.D., states that he had treated the veteran on several occasions. He indicated that he last saw the veteran on July 18, 1955, and it was his impression that the veteran had a peptic ulcer. He gave the veteran medication for that and he was continuing to take that treatment. The reports of September 1956 VA gastrointestinal series and gastrointestinal examination indicate that the veteran's stomach and duodenal cap were normal. No diagnosis was offered which indicated any ulcer disease. The December 1973 hospital discharge summary, previously mentioned, states peptic ulcer disease by history under pertinent clinical diagnoses noted but not treated. Reports relating to examinations, including an upper gastrointestinal series, accomplished in October 1986 reflect that the veteran reported a history of problems with his stomach and treatment for a duodenal ulcer on numerous occasions. The upper gastrointestinal series was normal. The report of a September 1992 gastrointestinal examination states that an upper gastrointestinal series accomplished in 1992 was normal except for a single duodenal diverticulum. The impression was no clinical or radiologic evidence of ulcer and the veteran should probably be diagnosed as nonulcer dyspepsia. The record reflects that the only diagnosis of ulcer disease was made by a private practitioner and reported in January 1956. That diagnosis was apparently made without the aid of radiographic assistance. Radiographic gastrointestinal series accomplished in August 1955, prior to the January 1956 statement, and in September 1956, subsequent to that statement, both indicate no ulcer disease. An upper gastrointestinal series, accomplished in 1986 and 1992, continued to reflect no ulcer disease. Thus, the veteran has not submitted clinical evidence which reflects ulcer disease during service or within one year following final service discharge, nor has he submitted clinical evidence which reflects chronic post service peptic ulcer disease. Therefore, he has not submitted evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claim for ulcer disease is well grounded and there is no further duty to assist him in the development of that claim. Grivois; Tirpak. The Board does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate a not well-grounded claim and it must be dismissed. Grottveit; Boeck. ORDER The issues of entitlement to service connection for disabilities manifested by chest pain and roaring in the ears, residuals of frozen feet, and ulcer disease, are dismissed. ROBERT D. PHILIPP Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.