Citation Nr: 21000753 Decision Date: 01/06/21 Archive Date: 01/06/21 DOCKET NO. 16-46 845 DATE: January 6, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder is dismissed. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder is remanded. FINDING OF FACT A July 2020 regional office (hereinafter agency of original jurisdiction or AOJ) rating decision granted entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability, effective the date of the Veteran’s reopened claim for benefits. CONCLUSION OF LAW The issue of entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder is moot. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.101, 20.200, 20.202. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Navy from August 1983 to March 1985. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a March 2013 rating decision issued by an AOJ of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a July 2019 hearing, a transcript of which has been attached to the record. In a November 2019 decision, the Board reopened the Veteran’s claims for entitlement to service connection for left and right knee disorders and remanded them to the AOJ for further development. The Board is hereby granting the Veteran’s motion to advance the case on the docket. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder The November 2019 Board decision remanded the claims and instructed the AOJ to afford the Veteran a VA examination in order to determine the nature and etiology of his bilateral knee disorders. A February 2020 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s left knee condition clearly preexisted and was aggravated by his active service. Subsequently, the AOJ granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran’s left knee disorder in a July 2020 rating decision. The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. As the July 2020 rating decision constitutes a full grant of the benefits sought, the issue has become moot, and the claim is dismissed. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997). REASONS FOR REMAND Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder is remanded. As noted above, the November 2019 Board remand instructed the AOJ to afford the Veteran a bilateral knee examination, which occurred in February 2020. While the VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s left knee condition clearly and unmistakably preexisted and was aggravated by his service, she also opined that the Veteran’s right knee disorder did not manifest in or was otherwise due to his active service. However, the Board notes that the February 2020 examination report contains, in the history section, the statement: “due to compensation of not putting too much strain on his left knee, his right knee has deteriorated.” Additionally, the examiner recorded a diagnosis of patellofemoral pain syndrome in the right knee, with an onset date of 1984, when the Veteran was on active duty, but did not discuss this diagnosis in providing the negative nexus opinion. Consequently, the Board finds this opinion inadequate. See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 304 (2008) (“most of the probative value of a medical opinion comes from its reasoning”). Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure proper adjudication of the remaining claim. The AOJ should obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran’s apparent inservice diagnosis of patellofemoral pain syndrome. Additionally, as the Veteran’s has been granted entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability and the medical record indicates this condition may have caused or aggravated his right knee disorder, additional medical opinion addressing secondary service connection is also required. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain updated VA and private treatment records and associate them with the claims file. 2. Forward the claims file to an appropriate VA examiner for an addendum opinion on whether the Veteran’s right knee disorder is due to his active service or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability. The need for an additional examination is left to the discretion of the examiner. The examiner must opine whether: a) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any diagnosed right knee disorder began in service, was caused by service, or is otherwise etiologically related to active duty service? The examiner is requested to specifically discuss the 1984 diagnosis of patellofemoral pain syndrome noted by the military discharge determination examiner as well as the February 2020 VA examiner. b) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any diagnosed right knee disorder is caused or aggravated (a medically discernible increase in disability even if temporary) by his service-connected left knee disability? The examiner is requested to specifically discuss the February 2020 VA examination report noting “due to compensation of not putting too much strain on his left knee, his right knee has deteriorated.” A complete rationale must be provided for any opinion offered. If the examiner is unable to provide the requested opinions without resort to speculation, the examiner should clearly indicate so and describe whether there is additional evidence that could enable an opinion to be provided, or whether the inability to provide the opinion is based on the limits of medical knowledge. T. MAINELLI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. C. Schumacher, 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.