Citation Nr: 20058905 Decision Date: 09/08/20 Archive Date: 09/08/20 DOCKET NO. 12-32 821 DATE: September 8, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbar degenerative joint disease is remanded. Propriety of the separately assigned rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, evaluated as 10 percent disabling as of February 27, 2015, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from July 2000 to February 2001. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions issued in May 2009 and November 2015 by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In February 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing conducted before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. In April 2018, the Board reopened the Veteran’s claims for service connection for bilateral knee disorders and remanded the reopened claims, as well as his claim for an increased rating for his service-connected lumbar spine disability, for additional development. While on remand, in an April 2020 rating decision, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) awarded a separate rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, evaluated as 10 percent disabling as of February 27, 2015. While the Veteran did not enter a notice of disagreement with regard to the propriety of the assigned effective date or rating for such award, the Board notes that such issues are part and parcel of his claim for entitlement to an increased rating for his lumbar spine disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.71a, General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine, Note (1). Thus, the Board has assumed jurisdiction over such matters. The case now returns for further appellate review. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbar degenerative joint disease. 2. Propriety of the separately assigned rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, evaluated as 10 percent disabling as of February 27, 2015. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder. 4. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder. Following the completion of the development ordered in the April 2018 Remand and the readjudication of the Veteran’s claims in the April 2020 supplemental statement of the case, the Veteran requested that the Board obtain his recent VA treatment records for consideration in this appeal in August 2020. As these records may reflect clinical findings relevant to his service-connected lumbar spine disability with associated radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and claimed bilateral knee disorders, a remand is necessary in order to obtain such outstanding VA treatment records. Further, after receipt of such records, the AOJ should, as directed below, undertake any additionally indicated development. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records dated from February 2020 to the present. 2. If these records indicate an increase in the severity of the Veteran’s service-connected lumbar spine disability with associated radiculopathy of the left lower extremity and/or demonstrate new diagnoses of right and/or left knee disorders, obtain a new VA examination assessing the severity of his lumbar spine disability with associated radiculopathy of the left lower extremity and/or an addendum opinion addressing the new right and/or left knee diagnoses from the clinician who rendered the October 2019 opinions addressing the etiology of the Veteran’s right and left knee disorders. A. JAEGER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Northcutt, 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.