Citation Nr: 18140034
Decision Date: 10/02/18	Archive Date: 10/02/18

DOCKET NO. 18-37 143
DATE:	October 2, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for left hand degenerative arthritis is remanded.
Entitlement to a compensable rating for right hand degenerative arthritis is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from December 1954 to February 1975. 
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from May 2014 and June 2014 rating decisions issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Honolulu, Hawaii.   
1.  Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for left hand degenerative arthritis is remanded.
2.  Entitlement to a compensable rating for right hand degenerative arthritis is remanded.
In March and July 2014, the Veteran was afforded examinations for purposes of assessing the severity of his service-connected bilateral hand disabilities.  The examination reports are not in compliance with current requirements as outlined in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016).  A new examination is necessary.   
These matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1.  Identify and obtain any pertinent, outstanding VA and private treatment records and associate them with the claims file.  
2.  After the foregoing development has been completed to the extent possible, schedule the Veteran for an examination of his hands.  The examination must include testing for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight bearing and non-weight bearing, if possible.
The examiner must attempt to elicit information regarding functional loss due to flare-ups and repeated use over time.  If the Veteran suffers from such loss, the examiner should express the loss in terms of additional loss in range of motion (i.e., in addition to that observed clinically), if feasible, taking into account all of the evidence, including the Veteran’s competent statements with respect to the frequency, duration, characteristics, and severity of his limitations.
Governing law requires that if the Veteran is not exhibiting functional loss due to flare-ups and/or repeated use over time, examiners will nevertheless offer opinions with respect to functional loss based on estimates derived from information procured from relevant sources, including lay statements of the Veteran.  An examiner must do all that reasonably should be done to become informed before concluding that an opinion cannot be provided without resorting to speculation.
That said, if it is the examiner’s conclusion that he or she cannot feasibly provide the requested opinion(s), even considering all of the available evidence, it must be so stated, and the examiner must provide the reasons why offering such opinion(s) is not feasible.
3.  After completing the above, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraphs, the Veteran’s claims should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence.  If any benefit sought remains denied, the Veteran should be issued a supplemental statement of the case.  An appropriate period of time should be allowed for response.
 
DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. O’Donnell, Associate Counsel