Citation Nr: 20007326 Decision Date: 01/28/20 Archive Date: 01/28/20 DOCKET NO. 13-16 377 DATE: January 28, 2020 REMANDED An initial rating in excess of 10 percent for patellofemoral syndrome of the right knee is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1965 to August 1968 and from May 1969 to June 1986. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from October 2009 and September 2010 rating decisions by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal was first denied by the Board in June 2018. The Veteran appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2019, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand and sent the case back to the Board. The Court stated that a remand is required for the Board to address some deficiencies regarding the adequacy of VA examination reports upon which the denial was based, and to provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for any conclusion reached. On review, there is a March 2018 orthopedic clinic note that reveals that the Veteran has been receiving steroid shots in his right knee and that the right knee symptoms may not be improving; a total knee replacement is being considered. Given that there is evidence of possible worsening since the last VA examination in January 2017, the Board finds that a remand for a new knee examination is necessary to ascertain the current level of severity. In doing so, the Board will request for compliance with Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26, 34-35 (2017) and Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination of the current severity of his right knee disability. (a.) The examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. The examiner must also attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups and after repeated use over time, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups and after repeated use over time. To the extent possible, the examiner should identify any symptoms and functional impairments due to the disability alone and discuss the effect of the Veteran’s disability on any occupational functioning and activities of daily living. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement or an opinion regarding flare-ups and after repeated use over time, 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). (b.) The examiner should also provide retrospective medical findings on the Veteran’s range of motion of the knees throughout the time period of the claim (VA examinations conducted from February 2010 onward involving the knees). That is, with consideration of the evidence of record and his history of right knee complaints, provide specific measurements for the historical severity of the Veteran’s range of motion testing on both active and passive motion and in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing. If it is not possible to provide specific measurements or an opinion 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). T. MAINELLI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Nichols 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.