Citation Nr: 18143484
Decision Date: 10/19/18	Archive Date: 10/19/18

DOCKET NO. 16-31 714
DATE:	October 19, 2018
REMANDED

Entitlement to an initial rating for left knee limitation of extension due to degenerative joint disease in excess of 10 percent is remanded.

Entitlement to an initial rating for right knee limitation of extension due to degenerative joint disease in excess of 10 percent is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from May 1975 to May 1978, and from July 1978 to July 1997.

This matter came before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision of the RO in St. Paul, Minnesota, which granted entitlement to service connection for degenerative joint disease of each knee and assigned a 10 percent rating for each.

In May 2016 the Veteran was afforded a VA examination to evaluate the status and severity of his left and right knee disabilities.  The examination of record does not, however, comply with the holding in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158, 168 (2016) (rating examinations must include, among other things, joint testing for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing, and, if possible, with the range of the opposite undamaged joint).  Accordingly, the claims are REMANDED for further development

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Secure all VA and private medical records pertaining to treatment of any service connected disorder dated since May 2015.  If the RO cannot locate such records it must specifically document the attempts that were made to locate them, and explain in writing why further attempts to locate or obtain any government records would be futile. The RO must then: (a) notify the claimant of the specific records that it is unable to obtain; (b) explain the efforts VA has made to obtain that evidence; and (c) describe any further action it will take with respect to the claims. The claimant must then be given an opportunity to respond.
2. Thereafter, schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the current severity of his right and left knee degenerative joint disease.  The Veteran’s VBMS and Virtual VA/Legacy folders must be available for review. 

For each knee joint the examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.  The examiner must also attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups.  The examiner must address the severity, frequency and duration of any flare-ups for each joint.  This specifically includes identifying the precipitating and alleviating factors for a flare up, and estimating “per the veteran” the extent to which flare-ups affect functional impairment. 
A complete, well-reasoned rationale must be provided for any opinion offered.  If the requested opinion cannot be rendered without resorting to speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is caused by a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge, i.e., no one could respond given medical science and the known facts or by a deficiency in the record or the examiner, i.e., additional facts are required, or the examiner does not have the needed knowledge or training.
 
DEREK R. BROWN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Allen M. Kerpan, Associate Counsel