Citation Nr: 21001627
Decision Date: 01/11/21	Archive Date: 01/11/21

DOCKET NO. 18-24 807
DATE: January 11, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a left ankle condition is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from December 1967 to December 1969.

These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Board hearing in September 2020.  The transcript is of record.

1. Entitlement to service connection for a left ankle condition is remanded.

Additional development must be completed before the Veteran’s service connection claim can be finally adjudicated. The record shows the Veteran suffered a left ankle injury prior to entry into service. He has averred that during basic training, his ankle condition was aggravated, and that aggravation caused him to be assigned to kitchen duty, and ultimately to a clerical role. 

The VA examiner with whom he met in June 2016 indicated only that the condition, which clearly and unmistakable predated service, was not aggravated beyond its natural progression during service, basing that assessment on normal x-ray findings at separation, and lack of significant treatment in the wake of separation. However, the opinion does not afford due consideration to the Veteran’s consistent and credible lay statements regarding aggravation, nor does it reckon adequately with the Veteran’s assertions regarding events in basic training and their relation to his active duty assignments, which reflect some degree of physical incapacity apparently revealed during basic training. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to explore the etiology of his left ankle disorder. All indicated tests and studies should be conducted and all clinical findings reported in detail. The entire claims file should be made available to and be reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with this request.    

The examiner should state whether a left ankle condition clearly and unmistakable predated the Veteran’s entry into active duty service, and if so, whether that condition clearly and unmistakably was not aggravated beyond its normal course of progression by any aspect of active duty service. 

In addressing the above opinion, the examiner should consider the Veteran’s lay statements regarding onset of symptomatology and any continuity of symptomatology since onset and/or since discharge from service.  The examiner should also consider any other pertinent evidence of record, as appropriate. All findings should be reported in detail and all opinions must be accompanied by a clear rationale. 

2. Thereafter, the AOJ should readjudicate the claim.

 

 

GAYLE STROMMEN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Z. Sahraie, 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.