Citation Nr: 18145331
Decision Date: 10/26/18	Archive Date: 10/26/18

DOCKET NO. 11-11 414
DATE:	October 26, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active military service from November 1986 to December 1989. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2009 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  
In April 2016, the Veteran testified at a travel board hearing.  
By way of background, in September 2016 the Board found that there was new and material evidence and as such reopened and remanded the claim for entitlement to service connection for a low back disability.  In June 2017, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for a low back disability.  The Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In July 2018, the Court issued a Joint Motion for Remand (JM) in which it vacated the June 2017 Board decision and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the Court’s findings.  The matter has returned to the Board for appellate consideration.  Upon a review of the records and the Court’s July 2018 JM, the Board finds that the issue of entitlement to service connection for a low back disability requires further evidentiary development and adjudication.  
At the outset, the Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of lumbosacral strain.  See November 2016 VA Examination.  Although the service treatment records are void of any references, complaints, or diagnosis of a low back related disability, the Veteran testified that she injured her low back in service while employed in warehousing and supplies.  See June 2017 BVA Decision and April 2016 Hearing Testimony.  As such, what remains for consideration is whether the Veteran’s current low back disability is related to her in-service event.
In the November 2016 VA examination, the examiner opined that it is less likely as not that the Veteran’s low back disability is related to military service as the records do not reveal any documentation of low back problems during active duty.  The Board finds that the examiner’s rationale did not consider the Veteran’s statement that she injured her back in service while employed in warehousing and supplies.  As such, pursuant to the July 2018 Joint Motion for Remand, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to obtain an opinion based on a full reading of the medical record and consideration of the Veteran’s contentions. 
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Return the November 2016 VA examination to an appropriate examiner for an addendum opinion.  Furnish the Veteran’s claims file, including a copy of this remand, to the examiner.  The examiner should specifically state that the entire claims file has been reviewed, including this remand. 
The examiner must determine if it is at least as likely as not (a fifty percent probability or greater) that the Veteran’s low back disability was caused by or is otherwise etiologically related to her time in service.  In rendering this conclusion, the examiner should consider and address the Veteran’s reports that she injured her low back after lifting a box while working in the warehouse in 1988; she was given a temporary low profile and some anti-inflammatories; her low back got better but continued to bother her off and on after service; she did not receive treatment until 2002, and initially treatment was conservative with anti-inflammatories and rest.  See Hearing Transcript pg. 22-36.  

 
S. HENEKS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	P. Noh, Associate Counsel