BVA Case 09-1145: Depression

Service-Connection Claims Establishing service connection generally requires (1)medical evidence of a current disability;(2)medical or,in certain circumstances, lay evidence of incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service;and (3)medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service injury or disease and the current disability.

To comply with this requirement, the Board must analyze the credibility and probative value of the evidence,account for the evidence it finds persuasive or unpersuasive,and provide the reasons for its rejection of any material evidence favorable to the claimant.

A finding of service connection is a finding of fact that this Court reviews under the clearly erroneous standard.

In August 2006,a VA examiner diagnosed the appellant with [s]evere bilateral greater trochanteric bursitis and opined that this was not related to her radiculopathy in that she has this bilaterally.

3 In its June 27, 2007,decision,the Board denied service connection for a bilateral hip disorder.

The Board found that the appellant had not established service connection on a direct basis because there was no evidence of an incurrence of a hip disorder during service or within a year of discharge from service,nor was there evidence of continuity of symptomatology of a hip disorder for several years following service.

The Board noted that the earliest evidence of a hip disorder in the record is from November 1992, over 14 years following the veteran's discharge from service.

The Board may discount favorable evidence if it finds that the evidence lacks probative value,but the Board must provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for its rejection of any material evidence favorable to the claimant.