Citation Nr: 18140048
Decision Date: 10/02/18	Archive Date: 10/02/18

DOCKET NO. 13-33 975
DATE:	October 2, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an increased rating for right knee injury, currently rated 10 percent, with osteoarthritis is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
1. Entitlement to an increased rating higher than 10 percent for right knee injury with osteoarthritis is remanded.
The Veteran’s right knee disability is currently rated as 10 percent disabling.
The Board notes that the Veteran was provided a VA examination for his right knee in September 2011.  The Veteran reported constant pain, weakness, and numbness. His range of motion was flexion of 120 degrees and extension of 5 degrees. There was no instability, but the Veteran reported occasional locking and swelling. He had normal strength testing and no documented arthritis. In October 2012 and September 2018, the Veteran submitted statements that he was experiencing high levels of pain and that his right knee disability had worsened since his September 2011 VA examination. 
As noted by the Veteran’s representative in the September 2018 appellant’s brief, where the record does not adequately reveal the current state of the claimant’s disability, the fulfillment of the statutory duty to assist requires a thorough and contemporaneous medical examination.  Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997).  Thus, the Board finds that a remand is required to have an examiner supplement the record with a report regarding the current severity of the Veteran’s right knee disability.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A.  This examination should also comply with the Court’s decisions in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016) and Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017), which were issued well after the most recent exam in this case.
In addition, the Veteran previously stated that he received treatment for his right knee from a private physician. Therefore, the Board finds that a remand is necessary for VA to fulfill its duty to assist and obtain any missing private records.  38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(1).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Send the Veteran a VA Form 21-4142 and request the names of all providers that currently treat or have treated his right knee disability.  Once the Veteran has returned the form, send letters to all the providers the Veteran identified requesting any medical treatment records from all time periods.  If any identified records cannot be obtained and further attempts would be futile, action should be taken in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).
2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his right knee disability.  The Veteran’s VA claims file and a copy of this Remand should be made available to, and should be reviewed by the examiner.  All indicated tests and studies should be performed and findings reported in detail.  
The examiner should conduct the examination in accordance with the current disability benefits questionnaire, to include range of motion testing (expressed in degrees) in active motion, passive motion, weight-bearing, and nonweight-bearing consistent with 38 C.F.R. § 4.59 as interpreted in Correia, as well as the degree at which pain begins.
In addition, pursuant to Sharp, the examiner must address any additional functional impairment or limitation of motion due to flare-ups, even if the Veteran is not currently experiencing a flare-up.  The examiner must ascertain adequate information—i.e., frequency, duration, characteristics, severity, or functional loss—regarding his flares by alternative means, such as the medical treatment records and the Veteran’s lay statements.  Such findings are consistent with the VA Clinician’s Guide.
 
Jonathan Hager
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	L. Leifert, Associate Counsel