Citation Nr: 18154938
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 11/30/18

DOCKET NO. 14-41 149A
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for left varicocele is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1974 to January 1978.
1. Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for left varicocele is remanded.
The claim for a higher rating for left varicocele is being remanded for a new VA examination.  The last VA examination provided was in January 2012.  As such, the Board finds a remand necessary to afford the Veteran a contemporaneous examination to determine the current severity of his left varicocele.  See Allday v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 517, 526 (1995) (indicating that, where the record does not adequately reveal the current state of the claimant’s disability, fulfillment of the statutory duty to assist requires a contemporaneous medical examination, particularly if there is no additional medical evidence that adequately addresses the level of impairment of the disability since the previous examination).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Provide a VA examination by an appropriate medical examiner to determine the current severity of the Veteran’s left varicocele.  The entire claims file must be provided to the examiner for review.  All necessary tests and studies should be accomplished and all clinical findings reported in detail.
The examiner is asked to examine the Veteran, review his claims file, and then respond to the following:
Identify all present symptoms and manifestations attributable to the Veteran’s left varicocele.
*Specifically, determine whether the Veteran currently has complete atrophy of the left testicle.*
The examiner should provide an explanation for any conclusions reached.
2. Thereafter, readjudicate the claim on appeal.

 
S. B. MAYS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Jane R. Lee