Citation Nr: 18140403
Decision Date: 10/03/18	Archive Date: 10/02/18

DOCKET NO. 17-45 123
DATE:	October 3, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial rating greater than ten percent for a left knee disorder is remanded.
Entitlement to an initial rating greater than ten percent for a right knee disorder is remanded.
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability (TDIU) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1959 to February 1960.
1. Entitlement to an initial rating greater than ten percent for a left knee disorder is remanded.
2. Entitlement to an initial rating greater than ten percent for a right knee disorder is remanded.
The Veteran last underwent a VA examination to evaluate his service-connected left and right knee disorders in May 2017.  During his June 2018 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that his service-connected disorders had continued to worsen.  Under these circumstances, an additional VA examination is necessary to determine the current severity of his service-connected left and right knee disorders.  See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997).
3. Entitlement to a TDIU rating is remanded.
Because a decision on the remanded issues could significantly impact a decision on the issue of entitlement to a TDIU rating, the issues are inextricably intertwined.  A remand of the claim for a TDIU is required.
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain VA treatment records since May 2017 and associate them with the claims file.
2. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for any treatment records dated since November 2016 concerning the treatment of his left and right knee disorders, including for treatment records from Eastchase and Birmingham that the Veteran referenced in his June 2018 Board hearing testimony.  
3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected left and right knee disorders.  The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria.  The examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.  The examiner must attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups.  To the extent possible, the examiner should identify any symptoms and functional impairments due to left and right knee disorders alone and discuss the effect of the Veteran’s left and right knee disorders on any occupational functioning and activities of daily living.  If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement, or an opinion regarding flare-ups, symptoms, or functional impairment without speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training).
4. After completing the actions detailed above, readjudicate the claims remaining on appeal, and readjudicate the claim for a TDIU rating.  If any claim remains denied, a supplemental statement of the case must be provided to the Veteran.
 
T. MAINELLI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Howell, Associate Counsel