Citation Nr: 18147040
Decision Date: 11/02/18	Archive Date: 11/02/18

DOCKET NO. 02-20 800
DATE:	November 2, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, to include as secondary to service-connected allergic rhinitis and asthma, is remanded.
 
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service from November 1966 to September 1969.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2008 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Los Angeles, California.
In September 2017, the Board denied the claim for degenerative disc disease.  The Veteran appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Court” or “CAVC”).  Pursuant to a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), the Court ordered that the Board decision be remanded for adjudication in accordance with the JMR.
The Board’s September 2017 decision also remanded the issues of service connection for renal cell carcinoma; compensation pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for an incisional hernia resulting from a nephrectomy performed at a VA Medical Center in October 1994; and an effective date prior to November 13, 2007, for a total rating due to unemployability caused by service-connected disability (TDIU).  Those issues remaining pending at the RO level and are therefore not addressed in the instant remand.  See 38 C.F.R. § 19.38.  
This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900. 38 U.S.C. § 7107 (a)(2). 
1. Entitlement to service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, to include as secondary to service-connected allergic rhinitis and asthma, is remanded.
The Veteran asserts that his obesity is the result of an inability to exercise, as the result of his service-connected respiratory conditions; and in turn that his degenerative disc disease is related to or aggravated by his obesity.
In the September 2017 decision, the Board determined that the Veteran’s lumbar disorder is not the result of disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service, nor was the lumbar disorder caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disorder. 
In the JMPR, the parties stipulated that the Board erred by failing to appropriately consider whether the VA examination reports and opinions were adequate to adjudicate a theory that the Veteran’s inability to exercise because of a service-connected respiratory condition was related to his obesity and, in turn, to a lumbar disorder(s).
Pursuant to the JMR, the Board finds that a new VA opinion should be obtained.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Return the file to the November 2007 VA examiner to obtain a supplemental opinion.  If that examiner is unavailable, or the examiner determines that an additional examination is necessary, a VA exam should be scheduled by an appropriate clinician.
The examiner is asked to address the following: 
a)	Opine whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s obesity was either proximately caused or aggravated by service-connected asthma, allergic rhinitis, or emphysema with inactive pulmonary tuberculosis.  The examiner is asked to specifically consider exertional intolerance as a reported symptom of his respiratory conditions.  
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b)	If obesity is secondary to a respiratory condition, opine whether it is at least as likely as not that a lumbar spine condition was either proximately caused or aggravated by obesity.
 
C. BOSELY
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Lauritzen, Associate Counsel