Citation Nr: 18155810
Decision Date: 12/06/18	Archive Date: 12/06/18

DOCKET NO. 17-00 564
DATE:	December 6, 2018
REMANDED
Service connection for bilateral flat feet is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from November 1984 to November 1987.  This matter is on appeal from a November 2013 rating decision.  
In a January 2018 rating decision, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) granted service connection for bilateral restless leg syndrome.  As this represents a full grant of the benefit sought with respect to this issue, it is no longer before the Board.  Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
1. Service connection for bilateral flat feet is remanded.
The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in January 2017.  The examiner acknowledged the Veteran’s contention that she had cramps in her feet nightly during her active duty service and that these have continued to the present but did not discuss that report in finding the current disability unrelated to service.  The examiner’s opinion was based entirely on the absence of documentation of a diagnosis of a foot disability in the Veteran’s service treatment records.  For this reason, a remand is warranted to obtain an adequate nexus opinion.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Arrange for an opinion by an appropriate clinician to determine the etiology of the Veteran’s bilateral flat feet.  The entire claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to the examiner for review, and the examiner must specifically acknowledge receipt and review of these materials in any reports generated.  A new examination is only required if deemed necessary by the examiner.  
The examiner must provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a probability of 50 percent or greater) that any current flat feet began in service, were caused by service, or are otherwise related to the Veteran’s active service.  
The examiner must provide all findings, along with a complete rationale for his or her opinions in the examination report.  Note that the fact that a foot disability is not mentioned in the Veteran’s service treatment records cannot serve as the sole basis for a negative finding. 
Although an independent review of the claims file is required, the Board calls the examiner’s attention to the Veteran’s contention during the January 2017 VA examination that she had nightly cramps in her feet during her active duty service and that these have continued to the present, as well as her other lay reports of continuity of symptoms since her active duty service.
The rationale for any opinion expressed should be provided.  If an opinion cannot be made without resort to speculation, the examiner should so state and provide reasoning as to why a conclusion would be so outside the norm that such an opinion is not possible. 
2.  Readjudicate the claim.  If the decision is unfavorable to the Veteran, issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case and allow the applicable time for response. Then, return the case to the Board. 
 
D. Martz Ames
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Ryan Frank, Counsel