Citation Nr: 1305161	
Decision Date: 02/12/13    Archive Date: 02/21/13

DOCKET NO.  06-02 538	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder, including secondary to service-connected low back disability.  


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States


WITNESS AT HEARINGS ON APPEAL

Appellant


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

S.J. Janec, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1965 to August 1967.  

This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of rating decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Veteran testified before the undersigned at a February 2008 Travel Board hearing.  The hearing transcript is of record.  

In June 2008, May 2010, and May 2012, the Board remanded the case for further development.  Regrettably, the Board has determined that another remand is necessary.

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the appellant if further action is required.  


REMAND

In a May 2012 statement, the Veteran reported that between August 2010 and November 2011 he received treatment from Dr. Nagalla, a VA physician in Orlando, Florida.  He indicated that Dr. Nagalla opined that the Veteran's current knee/leg condition was caused by or related to the service-connected lumbar spine condition.  VA medical records in the claims folder do not include such a statement.  The Board has also extensively reviewed electronic records for that time period in VA's virtual database and has been unable to locate such an opinion in the reports.  Since the Veteran has identified specific evidence in support of his claim, the Board finds that he should be afforded the opportunity to submit that evidence before final appellate adjudication of his claim.  

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

1.  The RO should provide the Veteran with the opportunity to submit a copy of the medical nexus statement in support of his claim from Dr. Nagalla that he referenced in his May 2012 statement.  

2.  After the development requested above has been completed to the extent possible, the RO should again review the record.  If any benefit sought on appeal, for which a notice of disagreement has been filed, remains denied, the appellant and representative, if any, should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and given the opportunity to respond thereto.

The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded.  Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999).

This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment.  The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.  See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2012).



_________________________________________________
FRANK J. FLOWERS
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2012).