Citation Nr: 18151176 Decision Date: 11/16/18 Archive Date: 11/16/18 DOCKET NO. 12-31 220A DATE: November 16, 2018 REMANDED A disability rating in excess of 20 percent for arthritis of the thoracic and lumbar spine is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1970 to October 1972 in the United States Air Force. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2011 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In February 2017, the Veteran testified before the undersigned during a videoconference hearing. A transcript of the hearing is included in the electronic claims file. In July 2017, the Board denied the claim. The Veteran appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In June 2018, Court vacated the Board’s July 2017 decision and remanded the matter to the Board for development consistent with the parties' Joint Motion for Remand (Joint Motion). The decision was vacated because the Board relied on VA examination reports that did not comply with the Court’s holding in Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26, 35 (2017) (addressing what constitutes an adequate explanation for an examiner's inability to estimate motion loss in terms of degrees during periods of flare-ups). A remand is required to afford the Veteran a VA examination compliant with Sharp. The Board considered the Veteran’s attorney’s October 2018 request to remand the claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), which is pending in remand status, along with the matter above. However, the record indicates that the development ordered for the TDIU claim has not yet been completed, and the claim is not currently within the Board’s jurisdiction. As such, the matters cannot be merged and remanded together. Instead, the Board has requested that the TDIU claim be readjudicated after the development below has been completed, to the extent possible. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Afford the Veteran a VA examination to ascertain the current severity of his service-connected arthritis of the thoracic and lumbar spine, in accordance with the applicable worksheet for rating the disorder. (A.) The examiner must test the ranges of motion in active motion, passive motion, weight-bearing, and nonweight-bearing. If the examiner is unable to conduct the required testing or concludes that the required testing is not necessary, he or she should clearly explain why that is so. (B.) With specific regard to functional loss after repeated use or during flare-ups, if the Veteran endorses experiencing functional loss due to either event, the examiner must obtain information regarding the frequency, duration, characteristics, severity, and/or functional loss related to such flare-ups or after repeated use. If the examination is not being conducted during a flare-up or after repeated use over time, the examiner should provide an opinion based on estimates derived from the information above as to the additional loss of range of motion that may be present during a flare-up. If the examiner cannot provide an opinion as to additional loss of motion during a flare-up without resorting to mere 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). (Continued on the next page)   2. The Veteran also has a claim for a TDIU currently pending in remand status. To the extent possible, schedule his TDIU VA examination (ordered by the Board in July 2017) and readjudicate the claim for a TDUI after the above VA spine examination has been completed. M. Tenner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Smith, Counsel