Citation Nr: 18157925 Decision Date: 12/14/18 Archive Date: 12/13/18 DOCKET NO. 10-27 064 DATE: December 14, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating for a lumbar disability greater than 10% prior to May 16, 2016 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND 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). The Veteran had active military service from December 1977 to December 1982, from January 1992 to August 2003, and from November 2004 to October 2005. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from the May 2008 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Houston, Texas. The Veteran appeared at a December 2015 hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. This matter was previously before the Board in June 2017. At that time, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to a disability rating greater than 10 percent for a lumbar spine disability prior to May 16, 2016. The Veteran appealed this decision to the Court of Veterans Appeals (Court). In June 2018, the Court issued a joint motion for partial remand. The Court remanded this matter with directions for the Board to obtain an adequate medical opinion on the extent of functional loss or limitation of motion that the Veteran experienced during flare-ups or pain or when his back was repeatedly used over a period of time, during the time period prior to May 16, 2016. Therefore, a remand is warranted for an opinion to be obtained. Additionally, 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. Obtain an opinion by an appropriate clinician to determine the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups prior to May 16, 2016, resulting from the Veteran’s back disability. The examiner must also address whether there was limitation of motion after repeated use over a period of time during the relevant period, and if so, the degree of limitation of motion. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. To the extent possible, the examiner should identify any symptoms and functional impairments due to the Veteran’s back disability alone and discuss the effect of the Veteran’s back disability on any occupational functioning and activities of daily living prior to May 16, 2016. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement, or an opinion regarding flare-ups, symptoms, or functional impairment without 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). 3. Following completion of the above, and a review of any additional evidence received, the RO should also undertake any other development it deems to be necessary, to include, if warranted, an addendum medical opinion which considers any newly received evidence. MICHAEL MARTIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Mountford, Associate Counsel