Citation Nr: 18152851
Decision Date: 11/26/18	Archive Date: 11/26/18

DOCKET NO. 11-03 042
DATE:	November 26, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service connected disabilities is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active military service from February 1979 to May 1979 and December 1990 to May 1991.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from the August 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Jackson, Mississippi.  In March 2017, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to a TDIU.  The Veteran appealed this decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), and in June 2018, the Court vacated and remanded the Board’s denial of entitlement to a TDIU. 
Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that due process is followed and that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran’s claim so that he is afforded every possible consideration.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2017). 
In a written statement dated in July 2018, the Veteran raised a claim for service connection for a left hip disorder as secondary to his service-connected left knee disorder.  That claim is referred to the RO for initial adjudication.  
The Board notes that a report of general information dated in August 2018 indicates that the Veteran reported having left knee instability.  It was indicated that a new knee examination was required.  That examination should be completed as the information may be relevant to the unemployability claim.  
The Board also notes that, in the matter at hand, service connection is in effect for traumatic arthritis of the left knee, evaluated as 40 percent disabling and instability of the left knee, status post reconstruction of the ACL, evaluated at 20 percent disabling.  A combined schedular evaluation of 50 percent has remained in effect from August 2012.
On the basis of the foregoing, it is clear that the Veteran does not meet the schedular requirements for TDIU entitlement set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a), and thus, the question presented for review is whether he is unable to secure of follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of his service connected disabilities on an extra-schedular basis.  38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b). 
The Veteran’s service connected disabilities do not meet the schedular requirements for TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a).  However, throughout the record, the Veteran indicated that he cannot work due to symptomatology associated with his service connected disabilities.  Therefore, the Veteran’s claim for TDIU is being remanded and referred to VA’s Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration.
Since the claims file is being remanded, it should be updated to include any outstanding VA treatment records.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2); see also Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and associate those documents with the Veteran’s claims file. 
2. Afford the Veteran a new knee examination to determine the current severity of the disorder.  
3. Refer the Veteran’s claim for TDIU to VA’s Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration.
 
MICHAEL MARTIN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Mountford, Associate Counsel