BVA9508215 
DOCKET NO.  93-11 199     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Waco, Texas

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for traumatic arthritis of
multiple joints.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: American Ex-Prisoners of War,
Inc.

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active service from December 1943 to September
1945.  He was a prisoner of war from November 1944 to May 1945.

This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on
appeal from a September 1992 rating decision of the Waco
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

An additional issue, service connection for gout, was developed
and certified on appeal.  However, in the veteran's substantive
appeal, VA Form 9, he did not set out specific allegation of
error of fact or law with respect to that issue, 38 U.S.C.A.
§ 7105 (d)(3) (West 1991). Moreover, no such allegation of error
of fact or law on that issue was timely received after the
Statement of the case, 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105 (b) and (d) (West
1991); 38 C.F.R. § 20.302 (1994).  Accordingly, only the issue on
the title page is considered properly before the Board.

CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL

The veteran contends that he developed traumatic arthritis of
multiple joints as a result of the acute traumas, hard labor,
exposure to cold and other hardships he experiences as a prisoner
of war.  He refers to a medical manual which states that
arthritis can be caused by a number of disease processes as well
as acute or chronic trauma.

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(s).
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 met the initial burden of
submitting evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and
impartial individual that the claim for service connection for
traumatic arthritis of multiple joints is well grounded.

FINDING OF FACT

The veteran does not have traumatic arthritis which has been
confirmed by medical authority.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The veteran, a former prisoner of war, has not submitted evidence
of a well grounded claim with respect to entitlement to service
connection for traumatic arthritis of multiple joints.  38
U.S.C.A. § 5107 (a) (West 1991).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

VA shall grant service connection for disability resulting from
personal injury suffered or disease contracted in active service.
38 U.S.C.A. § 1110.  Diseases specific to former prisoners of war
are subject to presumptive service connection.  38 C.F.R. § 3.309
(c).  The veteran's prisoner of war status is the basis of his
claim for service connection for traumatic arthritis (post-
traumatic osteoarthritis).  However, service connection cannot be
established for disability which is not medically demonstrated.

Pursuant to 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (a), a person who submits a claim
for benefits under a law administered by the Secretary shall have
the burden of submitting evidence sufficient to justify a belief
by a fair and impartial individual that the claim is well
grounded.  A well grounded claim is a plausible claim, one which
is meritorious on its own or capable of substantiation.  Murphy
v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78, 81 (1990).  Although the claim need
not be conclusive, it must be accompanied by supporting evidence.
See Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 609, 610 (1992).

In this case, the veteran was a prisoner of war from November
1944 to May 1945.  His service medical records are unavailable,
and are presumed to have been destroyed in a fire at the National
Personnel Records Center.  The post-service medical record, which
includes a report of VA former POW examination in 1984 and
current VA records, reflects diagnoses including gouty arthritis
and degenerative arthritis beginning many years after service.
In July 1990, the RO asked the veteran to submit medical evidence
supporting this claim.  He replied with a statement in which he
elaborated upon the hardships he experienced as a prisoner of
war.

As a layperson, the veteran is not considered competent on
questions of medical diagnosis or etiology.  Espiritu v.
Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 492, 495 (1992).  Therefore, his
assertions as to the form of his arthritis, or its etiology, do
not constitute evidence to render his claim well grounded under
38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (a).  Tirpak, 2 Vet. App. at 611.  In this
regard, he has referred to entries in a medical reference book,
but the entries simply stand for the proposition that arthritis
has a number of causes.  This evidence does not pertain to the
facts of his case.  Moreover, although requested, the veteran has
not provided medical evidence showing that he has traumatic
arthritis, and the medical evidence which is of record shows that
he does not.  In the absence of probative evidence of traumatic
arthritis, the claim is not plausible, and must be dismissed as
not well grounded.

ORDER

The claim for service connection for traumatic arthritis is not
well grounded and is dismissed.

          NANCY I. PHILLIPS
          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.

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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.