Citation Nr: 21001961
Decision Date: 01/12/21	Archive Date: 01/12/21

DOCKET NO. 08-26 624
DATE: January 12, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for a right knee disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service from March 1976 to September 1982.  This matter is on appeal from a December 2007 rating decision.  In January 2018, the Veteran testified at a videoconference Board hearing before the undersigned.  

In March 2018, the Board denied service connection for a right knee disability.  In a February 2020 Memorandum Decision, the Court vacated the Board's decision on the bases that the Board did not ensure substantial compliance with the terms of the prior remand directives, did not address an alternative (secondary) theory of service connection reasonably raised by the record (i.e., that the right knee disability occurred as a result of an in-service car accident that injured the left knee, thereby causing changes to biomechanics and walking), so did not satisfy the duty to assist in obtaining outstanding relevant records and to provide adequate reasons and bases for determining that a VA examination and medical opinion were not needed.  

To comply with the orders of the Memorandum Decision, a remand for a VA examination with a medical opinion, and treatment records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, California Department of Corrections, and Virginia Department of Corrections is warranted.  

The matters are REMANDED for the following actions:

1. Obtain the Veteran’s treatment records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, California Department of Corrections, and Virginia Department of Corrections.  Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the record.

2.  Schedule a VA examination for the right knee disability.  If the Veteran is unable to undergo a VA examination, the examiner should provide a medical opinion based on a telephonic interview of the Veteran, to the extent feasible, and review of the record.  

The VA examiner is asked to provide an opinion (with rationale) to help answer the following question:

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Is the Veteran’s current right knee disability at least as likely as not related to the October 1976 motor vehicular accident that injured the left knee during service?  Please discuss the assertion that the left knee injury caused changes to biomechanics and walking resulting in increased stress on the right knee and altered gait favoring the right leg.

 

 

J. PARKER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Ferguson, 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.