Citation Nr: 20057504 Decision Date: 08/31/20 Archive Date: 08/31/20 DOCKET NO. 20-27 573 DATE: August 31, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a neck disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force (USAF) from August 1964 until August 1994. This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2). Entitlement to service connection for a neck disability is remanded. The Veteran contends that he has a neck disability that is related to active service. The Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) show that he sought treatment for neck pain in February 1989 and April 1993. His military retirement physical reflects a diagnosis of arthritis in 1986 but does not specify the joint in which arthritis is present. See March 11, 1994 Report of Medical History at 3. Post-service treatment records include diagnoses of degenerative changes of the cervical spine. See June 8, 2017 MRI report at 1-2. In a March 2020 statement, the Veteran said when he retired in 1994, he saw his primary physician about neck and shoulder pain and that physician (whose name the Veteran did not recall) told him he had arthritis. The Veteran has a current disability, complaints in service and competent assertions of a complaint and possible diagnosis shortly after service. Given the Veteran’s assertions that his current neck disability is related to active service, and the current diagnosis of cervical disc disease, the Board must remand the claim for a VA examination and medical opinion. See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (c)(4). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to submit any private treatment records since July 2019, or to identify the private treatment provider(s) and provide the necessary release for VA to obtain identified private treatment records. 2. After completion of the foregoing, schedule the Veteran for an examination (or telehealth interview, review of the record, etc., if an in-person examination is not feasible) with an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and likely etiology of any diagnosed neck disability. Copies of all pertinent records must be made available to the examiner for review. Based on the examination and review of the record, the examiner must answer the following: (a) Identify all diagnoses related to the neck. (b) Is it at least as likely as not that any diagnosed neck disability (i) is related to service or (ii) manifested within one year after discharge from service in 1994? In answering these questions, the examiner must consider, and discuss as necessary, the following: (i) in-service complaints and treatment for neck pain in February 1989 and April 1993; the 1986 diagnosis of arthritis, without specifying which joint; (iii) the Veteran’s report of neck pain and separation and his primary physician told him he had arthritis. as well as a 1986 diagnosis of arthritis in an unspecified joint. A full rationale must be provided for all stated medical opinions. If the examiner concludes that the requested opinion cannot be provided without resort to speculation, the examiner should so state and explain why this opinion would be speculative and what, if any additional evidence would permit such an opinion to be made. M.E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M.D. Collins, Associate 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.