Citation Nr: 18146187 Decision Date: 10/30/18 Archive Date: 10/30/18 DOCKET NO. 17-54 288 DATE: October 30, 2018 REMANDED The issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee degenerative joint disease is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1998 to December 2001, March 2004 to February 2005, and September 2005 to November 2006. 1. The issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee degenerative joint disease is remanded. In connection with the appeal, the Veteran was scheduled for a VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his left knee disability in August 2016, September 2017, and February 2018. He did not report for any of these examinations. On his October 2017 VA Form 9, the Veteran indicated that he did not receive any notification of the September 2017 VA examination and that he had had repeated problems with VA correspondence being sent to his home address and not his mailing address. He then clearly provided his mailing address, which is a P.O. Box. VA contracted with a private physician to perform the examinations, and the letters sent by the contractor to the Veteran are not of record. However, the examination requests dated in August 2017 and January 2018 are in the claims file. A review of the requests reveals that the address provided to the contractor included the correct P.O. Box, but an incorrect zip code. Thus, it is likely that the Veteran did not receive notice of any examination scheduled for his left knee rating claim, and that the appeal must be remanded so that another attempt may be made to afford the Veteran a VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his left knee disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to evaluate the service-connected left knee disability. The Veteran’s claims folder must be reviewed by the examiner. (a) In reporting the results of range of motion testing, the examiner should identify any objective evidence of pain, and the degree at which pain begins. (b) Pursuant to Correia v. McDonald, the examination should record the results of range of motion testing for pain in BOTH knees on BOTH active and passive motion AND in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing. If the knees cannot be tested on “weight-bearing,” then the examiner must specifically indicate that such testing cannot be done. (c) The examiner should also express an opinion concerning whether there would be additional functional impairment on repeated use or during flare-ups assessed in terms of the degree of additional range of motion loss. In regard to flare-ups (pursuant to Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017)), if the Veteran is not currently experiencing a flare-up, based on relevant information elicited from the Veteran, review of the file, and the current examination results regarding the frequency, duration, characteristics, severity, and functional loss regarding his flares, the examiner is requested to provide an estimate of the Veteran’s functional loss due to flares expressed in terms of the degree of additional range of motion lost, or explain why the examiner cannot do so. [The Board recognizes the difficulty in making such determinations but requests that the examiner provide his or her best estimate based on the examination findings and statements of the Veteran.] 2. Ensure that the examination request includes the Veteran’s correct mailing address. If he does not attend the examination, a copy of the examination notice and documentation of any telephone contact with him regarding the scheduled examination must be associated with the claims file. TANYA SMITH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K. M. Schaefer, Counsel