Citation Nr: 0007735 Decision Date: 03/22/00 Archive Date: 03/28/00 DOCKET NO. 98-19 145 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Buffalo, New York THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for degenerative joint disease of the feet. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD R. M. Panarella, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty for training from September 1982 to January 1983, and on active duty from May 1984 to June 1986. His claim comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 1998 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Buffalo, New York (RO). The Board notes that the veteran, in written statements received in November 1995 and May 1998, appears to requesting the reopening of his previously denied claim of entitlement to service connection for a foot disorder, to include bilateral pes cavus and plantar fasciitis. This matter is referred to the RO for appropriate action. FINDING OF FACT There is no medical evidence of record establishing that the veteran currently has degenerative joint disease of the feet. CONCLUSION OF LAW The claim of entitlement to service connection for degenerative joint disease of the feet is not well grounded. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The issue before the Board is whether the veteran is entitled to service connection for degenerative joint disease of the feet. Before the Board can decide the merits of the veteran's claim, it must first determine whether the veteran has presented evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claim is well grounded. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). A well- grounded claim is one that is plausible, capable of substantiation or meritorious on its own. Grivois v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 136, 140 (1994); Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990). To be well grounded, a claim need not be conclusive, but it must be accompanied by supporting evidence. Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 609, 611 (1992). In the absence of evidence of a well-grounded claim there is no duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent to his claim and his claim fails. Epps v. Gober, 126 F.3d 1464, 1467-1468 (Fed. Cir. 1997). To establish that a claim for service connection is well grounded, the record must include lay or medical evidence, whichever is appropriate in the particular case, demonstrating that a disease or injury was incurred or aggravated during active service, and medical evidence showing that the veteran currently has a disability, and that a nexus exists between that disability and the in-service injury or disease. Id. at 1467-1468. Service connection may be presumed if it is shown that the veteran manifested arthritis to a degree of ten percent within one year of separation from service. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(a) (1999). A claimant may also establish a well-grounded claim for service connection under the chronicity provision of 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b) (1999), which is applicable where evidence, regardless of its date, shows that a veteran had a chronic condition in service or during an applicable presumption period, and that that same condition currently exists. Such evidence must be medical unless the condition at issue is a type as to which, under case law, lay observation is considered competent to demonstrate its existence. If the chronicity provision is not applicable, a claim still may be well grounded pursuant to the same regulation if the evidence shows that the condition was observed during service or any applicable presumption period and continuity of symptomatology was demonstrated thereafter, and includes competent evidence relating the current condition to that symptomatology. Savage v. Gober, 10 Vet.App. 488, 495-98 (1997). In this case, the veteran alleges that, because a medical board rated his bilateral foot disorder as analogous to degenerative joint disease in service, he is entitled to service connection for degenerative joint disease of the feet. The veteran's service medical records show that he received substantial medical care for his feet from May 1985 until he was discharged from service for a physical disability in June 1986. During this time period, he was diagnosed with fallen arches, bilateral pes cavus and plantar fasciitis, and his overall foot disorder was rated by analogy to degenerative joint disease. That notwithstanding, he was not shown to have degenerative joint disease of the feet. X- rays conducted in January 1986 revealed no degenerative changes. During a VA examination conducted in September 1986, after the veteran was discharged from service, an examiner diagnosed the veteran with congenital pes cavus and acquired fasciitis. X-rays of the right foot were normal. There is no other medical evidence of record discussing the veteran's feet. Beyond the veteran's statements, the record contains no evidence that the veteran currently has degenerative joint disease of the feet. His statements, alone, do not constitute competent medical evidence of a current disability. Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492, 494-95 (1992) (holding that lay persons are not competent to offer medical opinions). Inasmuch as the record lacks medical evidence establishing that the veteran has degenerative joint disease of the feet, the veteran's claim for service connection must be denied as not well grounded. The veteran has failed to meet his initial burden of submitting evidence of a well-grounded claim for service connection; therefore, the VA is under no duty to assist him in developing the facts pertinent to his claim. Epps, 126 F.3d at 1468. That notwithstanding, the Board views its discussion as sufficient to inform the veteran of the elements necessary to well ground his claim and to explain why his current attempt fails. ORDER Evidence of a well-grounded claim not having been submitted, service connection for degenerative joint disease of the feet is denied. L. J. NOTTLE Acting Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals