Entitlement to service connection for chronic right ankle sprain is granted.

Citation Nr: A26069927 Decision Date: 07/30/26 Archive Date: 07/30/26 DOCKET NO. 210902-182167 DATE: July 30, 2026 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for chronic right ankle sprain is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his chronic right ankle sprain had its onset during active service and has been continuous since that time. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for chronic right ankle strain are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from July 1998 to November 1998, with additional periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA) in the Army Reserve. In April 2021, the Veteran submitted a VA Form 20-0995, Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim, and requested readjudication of entitlement to service connection for a right ankle condition most recently addressed in a June 2013 rating decision. In July 2021, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) issued the supplemental claim decision on appeal, which found that new and relevant evidence had been received and denied the claim based on the evidence of record at the time of that decision. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the decision on appeal and any evidence submitted during an applicable evidentiary window. In the September 2021 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Hearing docket. A Board hearing was held on April 25, 2025. A copy of the transcript is associated with the Veteran's claims file. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the July 2021 AOJ decision on appeal, as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or his representative at the hearing or within 90 days following the hearing. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a). If evidence was submitted either (1) during the period after the AOJ issued the decision on appeal and prior to the Board hearing, or (2) more than 90 days following the hearing, the Board did not consider it in its decision. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.302(a), 20.801. The Board notes that the Veteran has a separate Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) appeal pending with the Board, docket number 210902-182167. That appeal will be addressed in a separate decision, according to its place in docket order. Service connection for chronic right ankle sprain. The Veteran contends he is entitled to service connection for a right ankle condition. Specifically, the Veteran asserts that he began to have right ankle issues during active service and that he has suffered pain since that time. See April 2025 Hearing Transcript, page 4. A Veteran is entitled to VA disability compensation for disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304. To establish service connection the evidence must show (1) a current disability, (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury, and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Lay assertions may serve to support a claim for service connection by establishing the occurrence of observable events or the presence of disability or symptoms of disability subject to lay observation. 38 U.S.C. § 1154 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). A layperson is competent to report on the onset and continuity of current symptomatology. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (a Veteran is competent to report that which he or she has personal knowledge). If the positive and negative evidence is evenly or approximately balanced, the claimant receives the benefit of the doubt. See Lynch v. McDonough, 21 F.4th 776 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (en banc). The AOJ identified the following favorable findings: (1) the evidence shows a qualifying event, injury, or disease during service, as a line of duty report dated June 12, 2001, says the Veteran had an ankle injury that was incurred in the line of duty; and (2) the Veteran has been diagnosed with a disability as he was diagnosed with a right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain in a VA examination conducted in May 2021. See July 2021 Rating Decision. Thus, the question remaining before the Board is whether a nexus exists between his right ankle sprain and his conceded in-service injury. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in May 2021. At the examination, the Veteran was diagnosed with right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain. The examiner noted a date of diagnosis of 2001. The Veteran reported injuring his ankle in 2001 while on active duty and that he has experienced pain and swelling of right ankle since the injury. See May 2021 VA Examination. The May 2021 examiner did not provide a nexus opinion. However, the AOJ requested a nexus opinion the following month. In June 2021, a different physician provided a negative nexus opinion. The June 2021 examiner reasoned, in pertinent part, that "Pt sustained a simple mild sprain of his R ankle playing basketball. As with all mild sprains, this quickly self-resolved." See June 2021 VA Opinion. In support of his claim, the Veteran provided an opinion from his treating physician, Dr. M.L. In the opinion Dr. M.L. confirmed that the Veteran has been under his care since August 2020 and that his diagnoses included chronic right ankle sprain. Dr. M.L. stated that the Veteran rolled his ankle during physical training in July 2001. Dr. M.L. concluded that it is more likely than not that the Veteran's chronic right ankle sprain was incurred during active service. Dr. M.L. reasoned that the Veteran has never encountered or experienced any of the incidents that occurred during his service prior to his service in the military. Dr. M.L. further stated that the mechanism of injury is supported by the literature. Dr. M.L. cited specific medical literature that he reviewed, which supports his opinion. See April 2021 Medical Treatment Record. At the April 2025 hearing, the Veteran testified that he injured his right ankle during active duty in 2001 and that he has had chronic pain ever since that time. See April 2025 Hearing Transcript, page 4. Initially, the Board finds the June 2021 VA opinion to be inadequate. Specifically, the Board notes the opinion was completed by a physician who did not examine the Veteran and that the physician appears to have entirely discounted the Veteran's lay reporting of having ongoing right ankle pain since injuring his right ankle in service, and he did not provide any basis for discounting the Veteran's statements. Thus, the opinion is not based on accurate facts and is therefore inadequate. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311; Kowalski v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 171, 179 (2005) (a VA opinion must be based on an accurate factual premise). The Board finds the April 2021 private opinion by Dr. M.L. to be competent and probative medical evidence which is based on an accurate understanding of the Veteran's medical history, and it provides adequate medical evidence to support the claim for service connection for chronic right ankle sprain. See Prejean v. West, 13 Vet. App. 444, 448-49 (2000) (Factors for assessing the probative value of a medical opinion include the thoroughness and detail of the opinion). Additionally, the evidence shows that the Veteran has consistently reported experiencing right ankle pain since his inservice injury. The Veteran has been a consistent historian in this regard. Accordingly, the Board finds the Veteran's competent and credible reports of ongoing symptoms since his period of active service particularly probative in this regard. See Jandreau, 492 F.3d at 1372. For the above reasons, the Board finds that the evidence is evenly balanced, or approximately so, with regard to whether service connection for the Veteran's chronic right ankle sprain is warranted. Therefore, the benefit of the doubt doctrine is for application. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b), 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Lynch, 21 F.4th at 776. Finding reasonable doubt for the Veteran, the chronic right ankle sprain is related to his active service. The claim for service connection is granted. Cory M. Picton Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Welch, Joshua H. The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.