Citation Nr: 20002645
Decision Date: 01/13/20	Archive Date: 01/13/20

DOCKET NO. 17-17 418
DATE: January 13, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to a disability rating higher than 10 percent for right wrist arthritis is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from January 1984 to January 1989.  In November 2019, she testified at a videoconference hearing held before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  A transcript of the hearing is of record.

The Veteran is seeking a higher disability rating for her service-connected right wrist disability.  Review of the claims file reveals that she was last afforded a VA examination in 2016, and the symptoms she testified to at her 2019 hearing indicate a worsening of this disability.  Because she now asserts that the severity of her right wrist has worsened, an additional examination is appropriate.  VAOPGCPREC 11-95; Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Obtain all clinical records, both VA and non-VA, pertaining to treatment of the Veteran for right wrist disability since her 2016 VA examination that are not already in the claims file.

2.  Provide the Veteran a VA examination to ascertain the current severity of her service-connected right wrist disability.  Any appropriate evaluations, studies, and testing deemed necessary should be conducted, and the results included in the examination report.  The examiner must use the appropriate Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ).

The examiner should also provide a full description of impairment associated with this disability and its impact on occupational and everyday functioning.

 

 

Thomas H. O'Shay

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J.R. Bryant

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.