BVA9505405 DOCKET NO. 93-08 874 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida THE ISSUE Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for lung disability due to exposure to ionizing radiation. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD P. J. McCarty, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from February 1946 to August 1947. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 1992 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends that service connection is warranted for lung disability due to exposure to radiation during his service in Nagasaki, Japan. 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, the Board concludes that the evidence added to the record since an August 1988 RO decision is not new and material regarding the issue of service connection for lung disability due to radiation exposure; thus, the claim is not reopened. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The RO denied entitlement to service connection for a lung disability as a residual of radiation exposure in an August 1988 decision; the veteran did not appeal. 2. The evidence received since then is either cumulative or duplicative of evidence previously of record or is not sufficiently relevant and probative, when considered in the context of the evidence previously of record, to establish a reasonable possibility of a different outcome. CONCLUSION OF LAW New and material evidence not having been submitted, the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a lung disability due to radiation exposure is not reopened. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a) (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION In August 1988, the RO denied entitlement to service connection for chronic respiratory residuals of radiation exposure. The veteran did not appeal that decision, and it became final. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105. A final and binding decision shall not be reopened absent new and material evidence in support thereof. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.3156(a). New and material evidence is defined as evidence that is not merely cumulative or duplicative of other evidence of record, is relevant to and probative of the issue at hand, and is of sufficient weight to present a reasonable possibility that the new evidence, when viewed in conjunction with the old, would change the outcome. Sklar v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 140 (1993); Cox v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 95 (1993); Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 171 (1991). The following evidence was of record in August 1988 when the RO denied service connection for residuals of radiation exposure: service personnel records; post service medical evidence, and the veteran's contention that his lung disabilities were related to exposure to radiation in service. While the evidence established that the veteran had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), none of the postservice medical evidence previously of record suggested that the veteran's lung disabilities were related to radiation exposure during his service. The evidence that the veteran has submitted in an effort to reopen his claim for entitlement to service connection for lung disability due to exposure to ionizing radiation consists of his renewed contention that service connection is warranted and additional postservice medical evidence, including 1992 VA treatment records and a September 1992 VA examination report. The Board finds that some of this evidence is duplicative, and that the evidence which is not duplicative is essentially cumulative of evidence previously of record. In any event, none of the evidence received since the prior RO decision is material. In this regard the Board notes that the veteran is not competent to offer evidence which requires medical knowledge, and no medical evidence linking any lung disability of the veteran to his service or his radiation exposure has been submitted. See Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492, 494 (1992); Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91, 93 (1994). The additional VA clinical evidence shows only that the veteran continues to manifest and need treatment for COPD. No clinical source attributes same to radiation exposure during service. Moreover, COPD is not one of the presumptive radiogenic diseases. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 1112 (West 1991). New and material evidence not having been submitted, the claim for service connection for a lung disability is not reopened. ORDER The request to reopen the claim for service connection for a lung disability due to exposure to ionizing radiation is denied. J. J. SCHULE 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.