Court Opinion

ID: 9502599
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 18:53:12.143653+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:01:15.458063
License: Public Domain

LANCE, Judge,
concurring:
Although I concur in the results reached by the opinion, I write separately to clarify the point that if the medical evidence in the record indicates that a disability has only two potential causes and at least one is related to service, then the inability of the medical examiner to provide a reason why one is more likely the cause of the claimant’s disability would place the evidence in equipoise, and the benefit of the doubt rule would apply. Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 49, 55-56 (1990). That is why it is vital that a physician be clear as to precisely what conclusion cannot be reached without resorting to speculation and why the Court reaches the outcome it does in this case.