Citation Nr: 18123782
Decision Date: 08/03/18	Archive Date: 08/02/18

DOCKET NO. 12-32 901
DATE:	August 3, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, to include degenerative joint disease (DJD)is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The appellant served on active duty in the United States Air Force from September 1966 to March 1971.  
1. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, to include DJD is remanded.
The appellant contends that his current right knee DJD is causally related to an October 1968 ligament tear in his right knee while he was in active service.  After a review of the evidence of record, the Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of entitlement to service connection because the April 2012 VA examination relies on an inaccurate reading of the medical evidence of record.  Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008).  
The examiner indicated in the VA medical opinion that the appellant only suffered a knee strain while in active service, and thus concluded that the injury was acute and self limited.  The appellant’s service treatment records demonstrate that his injury was more severe and involved a ligament tear in the knee.  
Further, the examiner noted the appellant had not had any surgical procedures on his right knee meniscus, despite evidence that the appellant underwent arthroscopic surgery with a meniscectomy on his right knee in January 2008.  
As such, a new examination is necessary in order to address whether the appellant’s in-service right knee ligament tear is etiologically related to the appellant’s current right knee disability, to include DJD of the right knee.  
On remand, the examiner should also address the appellant’s lay statements, recorded on his November 2012 VA Form 9, that he has had issues with his right knee ever since his in-service injury.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the appellant for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any right knee disability, to include right knee degenerative joint disease.  After examining the appellant and reviewing his medical history, the examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not that the appellant’s current right knee disability is related to an in-service injury or disease, including the appellant’s October 1968 right knee ligament tear.  
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The examiner should address all the relevant evidence of record, including the service treatment records documenting an in-service ligament tear, the post-service clinical evidence, including evidence showing that the appellant underwent an arthroscopic surgery with a meniscectomy on his right knee in January 2008, and the appellant’s lay statement, made on his November 2012 VA Form 9, that he has experienced knee pain since his discharge from service.
 
K. Conner
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Kleponis, Associate Counsel