Citation Nr: 18142942 Decision Date: 10/17/18 Archive Date: 10/17/18 DOCKET NO. 16-00 941 DATE: October 17, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a back disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disability is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves from May 1984 to April 1988 and in the U.S. Marine Corps from April 1988 to April 1991. A remand of the service connection claims is warranted as the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination of any of his claimed conditions. Under McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 81 (2006), VA is to afford the Veteran an examination when there is an indication that a current disability or symptoms indicating a current disability may be related to an in-service event, and no examination has yet been conducted. It is also necessary to obtain medical opinions as to whether each disorder is related to service. Each of these claims meets the low threshold of McLendon. Regarding the Veteran’s claimed back disability, the medical record contains evidence of multilevel degenerative changes in the lumbosacral spine. See April 2010 MRI. Service treatment records also reflect that the Veteran suffered from several days of low back pain during service following football practice. He maintains that there is a relationship between the injury in service and his current back disability, as he asserts that he has continued to experience pain since that time. Concerning the Veteran’s claimed left hip disability, there are documented complaints of pain in the Veteran’s posterior left leg down to his toes. Service treatment records reflect that the Veteran was treated for a bruised left thigh characterized by swelling in the anterior and proximal left leg and limited range of motion. He asserts that he has continued to experience pain in this region since service. The Veteran’s claim of entitlement to a TDIU is inextricably intertwined with his claims for service connection being remanded herein, and, therefore, must be remanded as well. See Henderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 11, 20 (1998) (explaining that matters are inextricably intertwined where a decision on one issue would have a “‘significant impact’ upon another, and that impact in turn ‘could render any review by this Court... meaningless and a waste of judicial resources’”) (quoting Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding VA treatment records. 2. After obtaining the necessary authorization from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the claims file any identified relevant private medical records. All attempts to secure these records must be documented in the record. If any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified of such in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (e). 3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any back disability. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including the in-service complaints of low back pain following football practice. 4. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any left hip or left leg disability. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including the document left thigh injury. If any diagnosed left hip or left leg disability is not related to service and the Veteran’s back disability is determined to be related to service, the examiner is asked to opine whether any diagnosed left hip or left leg disability is (1) proximately due to his service-connected back disability, or (2) aggravated by his service-connected back disability. JENNIFER HWA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L. Bush