Citation Nr: 1801009 Decision Date: 01/09/18 Archive Date: 01/19/18 DOCKET NO. 13-24 766 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Portland, Oregon THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E. Duthely, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1985 to June 1993. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2009 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Portland, Oregon. In October 2017, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. During the hearing, the undersigned engaged in a colloquy with the Veteran toward substantiation of the claims. See Bryant v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 488, 496-97 (2010). A transcript of the Board hearing is included in the electronic claims file. The appeal is REMANDED to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required. REMAND The Veteran was not afforded a VA examination concerning his left knee disorder. The conduct of a VA examination is required. Further, although the Veteran was afforded a VA examination in April 2009 concerning the nature and etiology of his right knee disorder, the examiner opined that the Veteran's right knee disorder was not etiologically related to his in-service right knee contusion. The examiner did not opine as to whether the Veteran's right knee disorder was etiologically related to his in-service motor vehicle accident. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Request that the Veteran identify and secure any relevant private medical records that are not in the claims file. Attempt to obtain any records identified by the Veteran and associate these records with the claims file. 2. Obtain any outstanding VA medical records and associate them with the claims file. 3. Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his bilateral knee disorders. The entire claims file, including a copy of the Remand, must be made available to, and be reviewed by, the VA examiner. All appropriate tests, studies, and consultation, must be accomplished and all clinical findings must be reported in detail. A comprehensive explanation must be given for all opinions and conclusions rendered. The examiner should discuss what significance may be attached to the lay contentions and service treatment records, as well as provide a rationale for any opinion or conclusion expressed. If the VA examiner is unable to provide the requested opinions with what is considered to be a generally accepted degree of medical certainty, i.e., without resorting to speculation, the reasons must be so stated. The VA examiner should, in such case, explain why it would be speculative to respond. In rendering the above opinions, the examiner must review and discuss the record. IN ADDITION TO ANY RECORDS THAT ARE GENERATED AS A RESULT OF THIS REMAND, the VA examiner's attention is drawn to the following: *The November 1985 service treatment record noting no significant injuries following the Veteran's motor vehicle accident; *The February 1988 service treatment record noting normal lower extremities; *The February 1991 service treatment record noting the Veteran experienced right knee pain for half an hour after he injured his knee playing basketball, and was diagnosed with a right knee contusion; *The June 2012 VA treatment record where the Veteran reported knee pain began in service and the examiner noted minimal degenerative changes in the Veteran's knees; *The October 2017 hearing where the Veteran reported experiencing bilateral knee pain since his in-service motor vehicle accident. 4. After completion of the above and any other appropriate development deemed necessary, readjudicate the issues on appeal on the basis of the additional evidence. If the determinations remain adverse to the Veteran, he and his representative should be furnished with a Supplemental Statement of the Case. An appropriate period of time should then be allowed for a response before the record is returned to the Board for further review. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matters 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. §§ 5109B, 7112 (2012). _________________________________________________ VITO A. CLEMENTI Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C. § 7252 (2012), 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) (2017).