Citation Nr: 18156554
Decision Date: 12/11/18	Archive Date: 12/10/18

DOCKET NO. 15-30 781
DATE:	December 11, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a rating higher than 10 percent for service-connected left knee arthritis is remanded.
Entitlement to a rating higher than 10 percent for service-connected right knee arthritis is remanded.
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from August 1971 to August 1975.
In November 2018, the Veteran testified before the undersigned at a Board hearing held via videoconference.  The transcript from the hearing has not yet been associated with the file, as the appeal is being remanded under the Board’s “One Touch” program.  The hearing transcript will still be processed and associated with the claims file in the ordinary course of business.
 
Increased Rating Claims
The Veteran is seeking higher ratings for his service-connected bilateral knee arthritis.  Each knee is currently rated 10 percent disabling.  The Veteran was last afforded a VA orthopedic examination in 2013.  At the November 2018 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that since that time, he was undergone a left knee replacement and is currently receiving injections in his right knee.  Given the increase in severity in his bilateral knee disability, the Board finds that remand is required to afford the Veteran a contemporaneous examination to ascertain the current severity of the Veteran’s bilateral knee disabilities.
TDIU
At the November 2018 Board Hearing, the Veteran alleged that his service-connected disabilities render him unemployable.  The Board finds that a TDIU claim has been raised by the record in this case.  Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009).  The Board finds that the Veteran’s claim for TDIU is inextricably intertwined with the remanded claims.  Therefore, remand of the TDIU claim is also required. Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991).
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain the Veteran’s outstanding VA and private treatment records pertaining to his bilateral knee disabilities.
2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination of the current severity of his bilateral knee disabilities.  The examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.  
The examiner is asked to describe whether pain, weakness, fatigue and/or incoordination significantly limits functional ability during flares or repetitive use, and if so, the examiner must estimate range of motion during flares or repetitive use. If the examination does not take place during a flare, the examiner should have the Veteran describe and/or demonstrate the extent of motion loss during flares or repetitive use and provide the extent of motion loss described in terms of degrees. If there is no pain and/or no limitation of function, such facts must be noted in the report. The examiner should comment as to whether there is any medical reason to accept or reject the Veteran’s description of reduced range of motion during flares or repetitive use

 
T. MAINELLI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Orie, Associate Counsel