Citation Nr: 20040111 Decision Date: 06/11/20 Archive Date: 06/11/20 DOCKET NO. 14-20 588A DATE: June 11, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for service-connected post-traumatic arthropathy of the right ankle is remanded. Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for service-connected severe hyperkeratosis of the bilateral feet is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from April 1986 to January 1990. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of rating decisions dated June 2011 and April 2016 of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Atlanta, Georgia. In the June 2011 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for post-traumatic arthropathy of the right ankle and assigned a 20 percent rating; the June 2011 rating decision also awarded service connection for severe hyperkeratosis of the right foot; a noncompensable (zero percent) was assigned. The Veteran disagreed with the assigned rating and perfected a timely appeal in June 2014. A subsequent September 2015 rating decision awarded service connection for severe hyperkeratosis of the left foot and established a noncompensable rating for severe hyperkeratosis of the right and left feet. In August 2018, the Veteran presented sworn testimony during a videoconference hearing, which was chaired by the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the Veteran’s VA claims file. In a March 2019 Board decision, the claims were remanded for further evidentiary development. A supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) was issued in April 2020. The Veteran’s VA claims file has been returned to the Board for further appellate proceedings. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for service-connected post-traumatic arthropathy of the right ankle is remanded. 2. Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected hyperkeratosis of the bilateral feet is remanded. In March 2019, the Board remanded the claims on appeal in order to schedule the Veteran for updated VA examinations to obtain contemporaneous, pertinent information to assess the current nature and severity of his service-connected posttraumatic arthropathy of the right ankle and hyperkeratosis of the bilateral feet. A review of the record shows that the VA medical center (VAMC) scheduled the Veteran for VA examinations in April 2019. The Veteran contacted the VAMC and requested that the VA examinations be rescheduled because he was out of state. He indicated that he would return to the state on June 1, 2019. However, the VAMC did not again contact the Veteran to schedule a VA examination until October 2019. At that time, the Veteran informed the VAMC that he was again out of state and would return on January 1, 2020. The VAMC did not schedule him for an examination after January 1, 2020. Significantly, the Veteran did not fail to appear for the scheduled VA examinations. Rather, he informed the VAMC that he would be out of state and requested that the examinations be rescheduled appropriately. However, the VAMC failed to schedule the Veteran for VA examinations when he would be in state or arrange for an examination in his current location. Therefore, the RO failed to ensure substantial compliance with the Board’s March 2019 Remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). Accordingly, this matter again be remanded in order to schedule the Veteran for VA examinations as to his service-connected post-traumatic arthropathy of the right ankle and hyperkeratosis of the bilateral feet, as previously instructed. Prior to arranging for the Veteran to undergo further VA examination, to ensure that all due process requirements are met, and that the record is complete, the AOJ should undertake appropriate action to obtain all pertinent, outstanding records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all outstanding records of VA evaluation and/or treatment of the Veteran. Follow the procedures set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c) with respect to requesting records from Federal facilities. All records/responses received should be associated with the claims file. 2. The Veteran should also be afforded a VA examination in order to determine the extent of his service-connected post-traumatic arthropathy of the right ankle. The examination should be conducted in accordance with the current disability benefits questionnaire, to include testing for pain on both active and passive motion, and in weight bearing and nonweight-bearing, consistent with 38 C.F.R. § 4.59 as interpreted in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016). The examiner must also address at what point in the arc of motion pain limits function both regularly and during flare-ups, even if a flare-up is not observed on that day. In addressing the nature of any disability during a flare-up the examiner must address the severity of the flare-up, the frequency and duration of the flare-up, and all precipitating and alleviating factors. All examination findings/testing results, along with complete, clearly-stated rationale for the conclusions reached, must be provided. 3. Arrange for the Veteran to undergo a VA examination to determine the extent and severity of his service-connected hyperkeratosis of the bilateral feet. Access to the Veteran’s electronic VA claims file must be made available to the examiner for review in connection with the examination. The examination should be conducted in accordance with the current disability benefits questionnaire. All examination findings/testing results, along with complete, clearly-stated rationale for the conclusions reached, must be provided. K. Conner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. K. Buckley, 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.