Citation Nr: 18130634 Decision Date: 08/30/18 Archive Date: 08/29/18 DOCKET NO. 15-31 808 DATE: August 30, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected lumbar strain residuals is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from August 1999 to August 2002. A January 2013 rating decision granted service connection for lumbar strain residuals and awarded a 10 percent disability rating effective July 16, 2012. In the substantive appeal, the appellant requested a formal hearing but later withdrew this hearing request in writing through her representative via August 2018 correspondence to VA. Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran’s request for a hearing on the issue on appeal has been withdrawn. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(d) (2018). Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected lumbar strain residuals is remanded. After review of the record, the Board regrettably finds that a remand for further development is warranted. The Veteran essentially claims that her service-connected lumbar strain residuals has worsened in severity since her last VA examination in December 2012 and that her symptoms warrant a higher initial rating. Further, the December 2012 VA examination failed to document range of motion testing on both active and passive motion and weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing (to the extent possible). 38 C.F.R. § 4.59; Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158, 170 (2016). The Board finds that the appeal must be remanded for another VA examination so that an accurate range of motion testing can be performed. VA’s duty to assist the Veteran includes obtaining a thorough and contemporaneous examination where necessary to reach a decision on a claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2018). Here, the Board finds that the Veteran must be afforded another VA examination. In addition, prior to the examination, up-to-date VA treatment records should be obtained. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. After procuring the appropriate release of information forms where necessary, obtain outstanding relevant VA records as well as any pertinent private medical records and associate all such available documents with the Veteran’s claims file. All attempts to obtain these records must be documented in the claims file. 2. Then, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate examiner to assess the current severity of the service-connected lumbar strain residuals. The examiner must review pertinent documents in the Veteran’s claims file in conjunction with the examination. All indicated studies should be completed and fully reported, including range of motion testing. Specifically, the examiner should discuss range of motion testing—in active motion and passive motion as well as in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing motions (where appropriate). If such are not applicable, the examiner should state such along with an explanation. The examiner must provide a rationale for all opinions offered. An explanation must be provided if the examiner finds that X-ray studies are not required for adequate opinions. If the examiner feels that a requested opinion cannot be rendered without resorting to speculation, he/she should state whether the need to speculate is caused by a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (i.e. no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), by a deficiency in the record (i.e. additional facts are required), or by the examiner himself/herself (because he/she does not have the needed knowledge or training). 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the increased rating claim on appeal. If the benefit sought is not granted to the fullest extent, the Veteran and her representative should be furnished an appropriate supplemental statement of the case and provided an opportunity to respond. The claim should be returned to the Board as warranted THERESA M. CATINO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD N. Peden, Associate Counsel