Barr v. Nicholson
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
21 Vet. App. 303 (2007)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
James Barr (plaintiff) served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967. In 1996, Barr filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) (defendant) for a service-connected disability for painful varicose veins. Barr provided lay testimony that the condition had first begun during his service, that he had been treated for the condition at a military field hospital, and that he had discussed it with service medical personnel. No contemporaneous medical records were found to support his claim, however. After the VA denied his claim, Barr appealed to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (the board). The board upheld the denial, holding that Barr had failed to provide any evidence of an in-service occurrence of the condition, because his lay testimony could not be considered as competent evidence of a medical condition. Barr appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Greene, C.J.)
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