BVA9504179 DOCKET NO. 93-06 937 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Louisville, Kentucky THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for a generalized anxiety disorder. 2. Entitlement to service connection for headaches and dizziness. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a lung disorder. 4. Entitlement to service connection for functional gastritis. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD P. Greif, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active military service from January 1968 to January 1971. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 1992 rating decision from the Louisville, Kentucky, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In that rating decision the RO denied, among other things, the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends, in essence, that the RO committed error in not granting service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis. The veteran claims that his disorders manifested in service because of inservice living conditions, food, and exposure to chemicals. 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 met the initial burden of submitting evidence sufficient to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claims for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis are well grounded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The RO has obtained all relevant evidence necessary for an equitable disposition of the appeal. 2. The veteran's generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis had their onset many years after service and are not the result of disease or injury during service. 3. The veteran has not met the initial burden of submitting evidence to justify a belief by a fair and impartial individual that his claims for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis are well grounded. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran has not submitted evidence of well grounded claims for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 5107(a) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (1994). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The veteran asserts that his current generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis are the result of living conditions, food, and exposure to certain, unnamed chemicals during his tour of Vietnam. 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 or capable of substantiation. If he has not presented well-grounded claims, his appeals must fail and there is no duty to assist him further in the development of his claims because such additional development would be futile. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). As will be explained below, the Board finds that his claims are not well-grounded and that there is no statutory duty to assist him further in the development of the claims. Entitlement to service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110, (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (1994). In addition, where a veteran served ninety (90) days or more during a period of war and psychosis, ulcers, and bronchiectasis become manifest to degree of ten percent (10%) within one year from the date of termination of such service, such diseases shall be presumed to have been incurred in service even though there is no evidence of such diseases during the period of service. This presumption is rebuttable by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (1994). The veteran's service medical records do not indicate any symptoms or medical findings suggestive of generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis. On the examination performed at the time of his enlistment into service the examiner reported no abnormalities except for appendix and hernia scars. The separation examination report was negative for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis. The examiner found the veteran to be qualified for separation from service and he was discharged from service in January 1971 under honorable conditions. In an April 1971 letter the VA informed the veteran of benefits that may have been available to the veteran. A questionnaire was included in the letter. In response to the questions listed, the veteran reported, among other things, that he did not receive medical treatment for any wounds, injuries, diseases or illness while in service. He also noted that he did not need any medical treatment. In April 1976 the veteran underwent a medical examination in connection with an attempt to enlist in the U.S. Army Reserves. The examiner reported no abnormalities except for appendix and right hernia scars. On the veteran's VA application for compensation received in August 1992 he reported that while in service he received treatment for headaches and dizziness, stomach problems, lung problems, and tiredness. However, when answered a related, but different question concerning the date each disability began, he reported that his lung problems started in 1982, tiredness in 1980, stomach problems in 1985, and headaches and dizziness in 1969. Private medical reports dated between September 1990 and August 1992 reflect treatment for some type of lung disorder, including bronchitis. The veteran was accorded a VA general medical examination in October 1992. During the examination he complained of throbbing headaches with associated vertigo, fatigue, burning and nausea, and shortness of breath. The examiner reported that the veteran's respiratory system was essentially within normal limits with good aeration, good airflow, and good excursion. He noted no rales, wheezes, rhonchi, or cough. The examiner reported that the veteran's digestive system was within normal limits, including no hernias. An upper GI series revealed no significant abnormalities except for a gastroesophageal reflux. He noted that neurologically the veteran was intact. The examiner also reported that the veteran demonstrated rather prominent general anxiety disorder with depressive history. The examiner's final diagnosis included generalized anxiety disorder with depression, distention cephalalgia, functional gastritis, and smokers bronchitis. As demonstrated by the medical evidence of record, there is no indication of generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis until roughly 2 decades after separation from service. In addition, there is no medical evidence of record establishing a casual relationship between the veteran's current generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis and his time spent in service. The United States Court of Veterans Appeals (Court) has held that where the determinative issue involves medical causation or a medical diagnosis, competent medical evidence to the effect that the claim is "plausible" or "possible" is required. Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492 (1992); Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91 (1993). Therefore, lay evidence, such as the veteran's opinion that his generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis are related to service or to exposure to an unspecified chemical is not competent to support a finding on a medical question requiring special experience or special knowledge. There is no credible evidence of record suggesting that his current generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis resulted from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. In the absence of any medical evidence to support the veteran's contentions, his claim cannot stand. Williams v. Brown, No. 91-1777, slip op. at 2 (U.S. Vet. App. Feb. 17, 1993). Moreover, where the service records do not show the claimed disabilities and there is no medical evidence to link a current disability with events in service the claims are not well- grounded. Montgomery v. Brown, 4 Vet.App. 343 (1993). If the claims are not well-grounded the Board does not have jurisdiction over the question whether or not the benefits sought on appeal are warranted. Boeck v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 14 (1993). The Board finds that the veteran's service records do not show the claimed disabilities and that there is no medical evidence to link the generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis with events in service. Accordingly, entitlement to service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis are not well-grounded. ORDER Entitlement to service connection for generalized anxiety disorder, headaches and dizziness, lung disorder, and functional gastritis has not been established. The issues are dismissed. JOAQUIN AGUAYO-PERELES 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.