Citation Nr: 21002366 Decision Date: 01/13/21 Archive Date: 01/13/21 DOCKET NO. 16-41 491 DATE: January 13, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral foot disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1963 to November 1965. The Veteran testified at a Board video conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in November 2020. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral foot disorder is remanded. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a bilateral foot disorder. The Veteran has reported that he began experiencing foot problems in service that have continued to the present. Importantly, the Veteran was noted to have pes planus on his December 1963 enlistment physical examination. Therefore, he is not presumed sound as to that disability and thus, he must show that his preexisting disorder was permanently aggravated by his military service. Service treatment records document ongoing foot pain. In support of his claim, the Veteran submitted a private Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) in June 2020. The examiner diagnosed bilateral pes planus and opined that it was at least as likely as not incurred in or caused by service. The examiner noted that the Veteran sought treatment for painful bilateral pes planus on numerous occasions while in service. However, the examiner failed to apply the correct standard, i.e. whether the Veteran’s preexisting disability was aggravated in service. As such, this examination is inadequate to be the basis for the award of service connection. See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 302 (2008). However, the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination with respect to this issue. At the Board hearing, he expressed his willingness to report to an examination. Thus, an examination with opinion is necessary as to whether the Veteran’s preexisting pes planus was aggravated in service. It appears that the Veteran may still be receiving private treatment for his foot disorder. On remand, VA should obtain authorization and request any additional private records. Updated VA clinical records should also be obtained. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for the private examiner who completed the June 2019 DBQ and any other private facilities that have treated his foot disorders. Make two requests for the authorized records from any identified facilities, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Obtain additional VA clinical records. 3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any currently diagnosed bilateral foot disorder. The examiner must clearly delineate all current bilateral foot disorders. With respect to preexisting pes planus, the examiner must opine whether it was at least as likely as not aggravated (non-temporary increase in severity) by service and, if so, whether any increase in severity was clearly and unmistakably (undebatably) due to its natural progression. For any diagnosed bilateral foot disorder that did not preexist service, the examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, to include the documented incidents of foot pain in service. In proffering the opinions, the examiner must address the service treatment records documenting pes planus, specifically the change from asymptomatic to symptomatic and from second degree to 3rd degree, the Veteran’s lay statements of continuity of symptomatology and the June 2020 private DBQ indicating that pes planus is related to service. L. M. BARNARD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J.N. Moats 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.