Citation Nr: 18158895 Decision Date: 12/19/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 15-10 346 DATE: December 19, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a neck disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The appellant, who has achieved Veteran status through establishing service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, served on active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from February 1975 to June 1975 and from June 1977 to November 1977 in the Army National Guard. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in October 2012 by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 1. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a neck disorder. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder. The Veteran asserts that he has current low back, neck, and left hip disorders as a result of an injury he sustained during basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in 1975 when he jumped or fell from a two-and-a-half ton truck during a training session and landed hard on his left leg. Consequently, he claims that service connection for such disorders is warranted. The Veteran’s service treatment records reflect that, in Reports of Medical History completed in January 1975, February 1977, and April 1980, he reported that he had received treatment in 1972 for inflamed or torn back muscles. Specifically, he indicated that he was hospitalized for a sprained back, which occurred without injury to the spine, and was placed in traction. In February 1977, it was noted that the Veteran had an acute low back sprain in 1972 that resolved without reoccurrence or sequelae. Such records are otherwise negative for any complaints, treatment, or diagnoses referable to low back, neck, or left hip disorders. However, the Veteran states that, while he has been unable to obtain the records, he was treated for the aforementioned injury at a hospital at Ft. Leonard Wood, where he received x-rays and was put on a “no-running” profile. Furthermore, in a July 2014 statement, one of the Veteran’s fellow service members reported that he served with him in Officer Candidate School in 1976, and recalled that he complained of back and hip pain constantly. Additionally, in an August 2014 statement, the Veteran’s former spouse indicated that, while he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in February 1975, he informed her of back and hip injuries incurred during training. Current private treatment records reflect current diagnoses referable to the Veteran’s lumbar and cervical spines. While there has not been a specific diagnosis of a left hip disorder and X-rays were negative in September 2008, the record reflects complaints of left hip pain and a diagnosis of lumbar radiculitis. Furthermore, in an August 2014 statement, the Veteran’s treating physician, Dr. B.G., stated that he had been treating the Veteran for long-standing low back and lower limb pain and disability, and such symptoms were likely related, at least in part, to his injuries sustained during military service when he was accidently pushed out of an Army truck onto his left leg. In this regard, Dr. B.G. noted that the Veteran had reported pain in his low back and left hip since such time. However, as Dr. B.G. did not provide a sufficient rationale for his opinion, it is insufficient to award service connection. Nonetheless, in light of the Veterans current low back and neck disorders, and complaints of left hip pain, his reported in-service injury, and Dr. B.G.’s opinion, the Board finds that a remand is necessary in order to afford the Veteran a VA examination so as to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed low back, neck, and left hip disorders. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Afford the Veteran an appropriate VA examination so as to determine the current nature and etiology of his claimed low back, neck, and left hip disorders. The record, to include a complete copy of this Remand, must be made available to the examiner and all indicated tests and studies should be conducted. Thereafter, the examiner should address the following inquiries: (A) Identify all current diagnosed disorders of the low back, neck, and left hip. If a diagnosis referable to the left hip is not found, the examiner should indicate whether the Veteran’s reported complaints of left hip pain results in functional impairment of his earning capacity. If so, the examiner is advised that he or she should assume that the Veteran’s has a left hip disability for VA purposes for addressing the below opinion. (B) For each current low back, neck, and left hip disability, the examiner should offer an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent or greater probability) that such is caused or aggravated by a disease or injury sustained during either period of the Veteran’s ACDUTRA from February 1975 to June 1975 or from June 1977 to November 1977, to include as a result of an injury he sustained during basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in 1975 when he jumped or fell from a two-and-a-half ton truck during a training session and landed hard on his left leg. For the purpose of rendering the above opinion, the examiner should accept that the Veteran’s account of such in-service injury. In offering such opinion, the examiner should consider the Veteran’s statements as to the nature of his in-service injury and a continuity of symptomatology, the July 2014 statement from his fellow service member regarding the Veteran’s complains of back and hip pain in 1976, the August 2014 statement from his former spouse regarding the in-service injury, and the August 2014 opinion from Dr. D.G. relating the Veteran’s current symptoms of low back and lower limb pain to the aforementioned in-service injury. A rationale for any opinion offered should be provided. A. JAEGER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E. Gardner Gaye, Associate Counsel