Citation Nr: 21001852 Decision Date: 01/12/21 Archive Date: 01/12/21 DOCKET NO. 12-08 494 DATE: January 12, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for right knee degenerative arthritis is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for right knee instability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from November 1977 to December 1980, May 2003 to September 2003, March 2005 to July 2005, October 2005 to December 2005, and January 2006 to June 2006. In April 2018, the Veteran testified at a video conference hearing. The Judge who conducted that hearing has retired. The Veteran was informed of this development in a November 2020 letter and was offered the opportunity to have an additional Board hearing. The Veteran has not responded to this letter. Therefore, the Board will proceed without a new hearing. The Board remanded the Veteran’s claims in July 2017. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for right knee degenerative arthritis is remanded. 2. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for right knee instability is remanded. While the record contains contemporaneous VA examinations regarding the Veteran’s right knee disability, they do not comply with the requirements in Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26, 34-36 (2017). While a February 2016 examiner indicated that there is significant limitation in functional ability with flare-ups, the examiner was unable to describe this terms of range of motion. Inconsistent with Sharp, the examiner did not explain why such an opinion could not be provided. The Veteran attended another examiantion in October 2019, and the examiner indicated the Veteran denied having flare-ups. Accordingly, the examiner did not attempt to elicit relevant information regarding the description of the Veteran’s flare-ups and any additional functional loss suffered during flare-ups. However, the Veteran reported pain with ambulation and not walking long distances, which is consistent with his February 2016 report of flare-ups with walking 30 minutes. Additionally, the October 2019 examiner did not provide range of motion meausurements for both weight bearing and non-weight bearing as directed in the July 2018 remand, and a May 2020 addendum statetment did not clarify this. Therefore, remand is warrant to schedule an additional examiation that complies with VA law and prior remand directives. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected right knee disabilities. The examiner should provide a full description of the disabilities and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disabilities under the rating criteria. In so doing, the examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement without speculation, the examiner must provide reasoning. The examiner must attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement based on direct observation, the examiner should provide an estimate, if at all possible, of the additional impairment due to flare-ups based on the other evidence of record and the Veteran’s statements including historical changes in impairment due to flare-ups. H. N. SCHWARTZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Gregory T. Shannon, 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.