BVA9500387 DOCKET NO. 93-05 497 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois THE ISSUE Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim for service connection for a chronic skin disorder. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Stephen F. Sylvester, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran in this case had active service from December 1943 to December 1945. This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) arises from a February 1992 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Chicago, Illinois. By a rating decision of October 1984 (from which an appeal was initiated, but not perfected), the RO denied service connection for seborrheic keratosis and dermatitis with xerosis. Since that decision, the veteran has submitted additional evidence in an attempt to reopen his claim. The RO found that such evidence, while new, was not material, and the current appeal ensued. At the time of the prior denial of service connection for a chronic skin disorder, in October 1984, the veteran's claim was based on exposure to ionizing radiation. At the present time, neither the veteran nor his accredited representative has voiced any arguments regarding such exposure. Accordingly, the Board will confine its review solely to the issue of service connection for a chronic skin disorder, exclusive of any arguments revolving about exposure to ionizing radiation. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran's argument is that the RO committed error in denying reopening of a claim for entitlement to service connection for a chronic skin disorder, in that such disability had its origin during his active military service. Specifically, it is contended that the veteran's current skin disorder had its origin in 1945, during his period of service in World War II, at which time he was told that he had developed a "skin rash." 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 has not submitted new and material evidence to reopen a claim for service connection for a chronic skin disorder. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In a rating decision of October 1984, the RO denied service connection for a chronic skin disorder. 2. Additional evidence submitted since the time of the October 1984 rating decision, consisting primarily of various VA and private outpatient treatment records, the veteran's testimony, and a statement from the veteran's sister, does not demonstrate that the veteran's skin disorder had its origin in service or is in any way related to an incident or incidents of active military service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Evidence received since the October 1984 rating decision denying entitlement to service connection for a chronic skin disorder is new, but not material. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5107(b), 5108 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.156(a) (1993). 2. The October 1984 rating decision denying the veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for a chronic skin disorder is final, and the claim may not be reopened. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 5107(b), 7105 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.104(a) (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS At the outset, the Board has found that the veteran's claim is "well-grounded" within the meaning of 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). That is, he has presented a claim which is plausible. The Board is also satisfied that all relevant facts have been properly developed. No further assistance to the veteran is required to comply with the duty to assist him mandated by 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by wartime service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110 (West 1991). Moreover, where a veteran served ninety (90) days or more during a period of war, and carcinoma of the skin becomes manifest to a degree of 10 percent within one year from date of termination of such service, such disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. This presumption is rebuttable by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (1993). However, once entitlement to service connection for a given disorder has been denied by the RO, that determination is final. In order to later establish service connection for the disorder in question, it is required that new and material evidence be presented which provides a rational basis warranting a grant of the benefit in question. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5108, 7104(b) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a) (1993). In the present case, service medical records, including the veteran's service entrance and separation examinations, are entirely negative for history, complaints, or abnormal findings indicative of the presence of a skin disorder of any kind. On service separation examination in November 1945, an examination of the skin and glands was normal, and no pertinent diagnosis was noted. The earliest clinical indication of the presence of a skin disorder of any kind is revealed by VA records of hospitalization dated in 1951, approximately six years following service discharge, at which time the veteran underwent the excision of a basal cell carcinoma of the right ala nasi. A June 1984 statement from the veteran's private physician is to the effect that, in September 1962, the veteran received treatment for chronic eczematoid neurodermatitis of the anterior shins which, according to the veteran, had been present for approximately 5 to 10 years (placing its origin, at the earliest, in 1952). In early April 1983, he was seen for extensive neurodermatitis of the arms and legs. Shortly thereafter, in mid-April 1983, he was again seen for treatment of subacute neurodermatitis of the arms, in addition to xerotic eczema of the legs. Based on the aforementioned, it is clear that the veteran experienced a chronic skin disorder no earlier than 1951, six years following his separation from active military service. Private medical treatment records subsequent to that time show no relationship between the veteran's skin disorder and his active service. Consequently, the rating decision of October 1984, which denied entitlement to service connection for a chronic skin disorder, was adequately supported by and consistent with the evidence then of record. That decision is final. Evidence received since the October 1984 rating decision, while "new" in the sense that it was not previously of record, is not "material" as that term has come to be defined under the relevant regulatory criteria. Specifically, since the October 1984 rating decision, the veteran has submitted VA and private medical records showing relatively recent treatment for an ongoing skin disorder, with treatment records demonstrating no relationship between that disorder and service. We acknowledge the recent statement of the veteran's sister to the effect that, immediately following the veteran's discharge from service, he complained of an "itching" about his arms and legs. However, where a person lacks the medical expertise to enter a judgment regarding the medical relationship between a claimed disorder and any claimed inservice onset, that person's statements are of little, if any, probative value. Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492 (1992). Consequently, the statements of the veteran's sister regarding the origins of his skin disorder do not, in and of themselves, serve to place that origin at a point in time during his wartime service. Finally, the Board notes that at a July 1992 hearing the veteran voiced various assertions, the majority of which consisted of a reiteration of his previous contentions. These are to the effect that his skin disorder had its origin in 1945, during his active service in World War II. The objective evidence currently of record, however, is in direct contradiction to those assertions. As is stated above, service medical records, and in particular the veteran's separation examination, are entirely negative for evidence of a skin disorder of any kind. The veteran may be sincere in his belief; but in establishing facts regarding remote events, contempo- raneous evidence is more probative. Consequently, all the additional evidence does not make the ultimate success of the veteran's claim more likely and is not new and material. ORDER New and material evidence not having been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a chronic skin disorder, the appeal is denied. GEORGE R. SENYK 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.