Citation Nr: 20031402 Decision Date: 05/05/20 Archive Date: 05/05/20 DOCKET NO. 15-42 856 DATE: May 5, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for right foot disorder. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1968 to March 1970. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This case was previous before the Board in August 2018. Remand is required to obtain an adequate VA examination and opinion. Where VA provides the veteran with an examination in a service connection claim, the examination must be adequate. Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007). Where the Veteran has provided lay testimony of an in-service injury, an examiner cannot ignore that lay evidence and base his or her opinion that there is no relationship to service on the absence of in-service corroborating medical records. Dalton v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 23, 39-40 (2007). Generally, a medical opinion should address the appropriate theories of entitlement. Stefl v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 120, 123-24 (2007).   A July 2019 VA examiner provided a negative nexus opinion regarding the right foot disability (right foot degenerative joint disease). In providing the service connection opinion, however, it appears that the July 2019 examiner essentially relied on the absence of in-service corroborating medical records as the reason for providing the negative opinion. Additionally, the Veteran’s lay statements were not discussed. Based on the foregoing, another opinion must be obtained. If it is not possible for the Veteran to be physically present for the VA examination, determine if it is possible to provide the requested opinion without him being present. If it is not possible, provide an explanation as to why this is not possible. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the appropriate VA Medical Center and obtain and associate with the claims file all outstanding records of treatment on and after June 21, 2019. If any requested records are not available, or the search for any such records otherwise yields negative results, that fact must clearly be documented in the claims file. Efforts to obtain these records must continue until it is determined that they do not exist or that further attempts to obtain them would be futile. The non-existence or unavailability of such records must be verified and this should be documented for the record. Required notice must be provided to the Veteran and his representative. 2. Contact the Veteran and afford him the opportunity to identify by name, address and dates of treatment or examination any relevant non-VA medical records. Subsequently, and after securing the proper authorizations where necessary, make arrangements to obtain all the records of treatment or examination from all the sources listed by the appellant which are not already on file. All information obtained must be made part of the file. All attempts to secure this evidence must be documented in the claims file, and if, after making reasonable efforts to obtain named records, they are not able to be secured, provide the required notice and opportunity to respond to the Veteran and his representative. 3. After any additional records are associated with the claims file, provide the Veteran with an appropriate examination to determine the etiology of his right foot disorder. The entire claims file must be made available to and be reviewed by the examiner. Any indicated tests and studies must be accomplished and all clinical findings must be reported in detail and correlated to a specific diagnosis. An explanation for all opinions expressed must be provided. The examiner must provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran’s right foot disorder had its onset in, or is otherwise caused by, the Veteran’s military service. The examiner must consider and discuss the Veteran’s lay statements wherein he has indicated that he has had right foot symptoms continuously since service. 4. Notify the Veteran that it is his responsibility to report for any scheduled examination and to cooperate in the development of the claims, and that the consequences for failure to report for a VA examination without good cause may include denial of the claims. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.158, 3.655 (2019). In the event that the Veteran does not report for any scheduled examination, documentation must be obtained which shows that notice scheduling the   examination was sent to the last known address. It must also be indicated whether any notice that was sent was returned as undeliverable. K. MILLIKAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Nelson, Counsel 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.