Citation Nr: 18146569 Decision Date: 10/31/18 Archive Date: 10/31/18 DOCKET NO. 09-14 205 DATE: October 31, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ring finger sprain is remanded. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left knee chondromalacia prior to November 5, 2015, and in excess of 10 percent from that date is remanded. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for right knee chondromalacia prior to November 5, 2015, and in excess of 10 percent from that date is remanded. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ankle sprain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left wrist sprain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right wrist sprain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain, left hand, to include as secondary to a neck disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain, right hand, to include as secondary to a neck disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for degenerative disc disease C6-7 (also claimed as joint pain, neck) is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain of the left hip is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain of the right hip is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1989 to August 1995. The claim was most recently before the Board in July 2017, when it was remanded for additional development. For the reasons discussed below, there has not been substantial compliance with some of the remand directives and another remand is required. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). 1. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ring finger sprain is remanded. 2. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left knee chondromalacia prior to November 5, 2015, and in excess of 10 percent from that date is remanded. 3. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for right knee chondromalacia prior to November 5, 2015, and in excess of 10 percent from that date is remanded. 4. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ankle sprain is remanded. While the record contains contemporaneous VA examinations regarding the Veteran’s service-connected left finger, bilateral knee and left ankle disabilities, the September 2016 examinations do not comply with the requirements in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158, 168 (2016). Specifically, the examination reports do not provide range of motion findings that were obtained on active versus passive motion nor range of motion findings in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing. New VA examinations with complete findings for the Veteran’s service-connected left finger, bilateral knee and left ankle disabilities are therefore needed on remand. 5. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain is remanded. 6. Entitlement to service connection for left wrist sprain is remanded. 7. Entitlement to service connection for right wrist sprain is remanded. 8. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain, left hand, to include as secondary to a neck disability is remanded. 9. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain, right hand, to include as secondary to a neck disability is remanded. 10. Entitlement to service connection for degenerative disc disease C6-7 (also claimed as joint pain, neck) is remanded. 11. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain of the left hip is remanded. 12. Entitlement to service connection for joint pain of the right hip is remanded. In its July 2017 remand, the Board sought to obtain any available medical records from a private doctor who was treating the Veteran for her cervical spine. To date, this request has not been accomplished. As such, remand is needed to obtain any available private treatment records related to the Veteran’s respective claims. As these issues are being remanded for further development, the Veteran’s claims folder should be updated to include all outstanding VA treatment records. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (c)(2); see also Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).   The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records dated from May 2017 to the present and associate those documents with the Veteran’s claims file. 2. After obtaining any necessary authorization and information from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the Veteran’s electronic record all outstanding treatment records from Dr. Eric P. Sipos and any other private medical providers who have treated the Veteran. 3. Schedule the Veteran for examinations of the current severity of the service-connected left finger, bilateral knee and left ankle disabilities. 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. To the extent possible, the examiner should identify any symptoms and functional impairments due to the left finger, bilateral knee and left ankle disabilities alone and discuss the effect of the Veteran’s left finger, bilateral knee and left ankle disabilities 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 the above development, and any additionally indicated development, review the claims to determine that all requested development has been completed adequately. M. E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Jack S. Komperda, Counsel