Citation Nr: 21004616
Decision Date: 01/27/21	Archive Date: 01/27/21

DOCKET NO. 12-31 767
DATE: January 27, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for a bilateral knee condition is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1963 to May 1969. This matter is on appeal before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) from an April 2010 rating decision.

The Board denied the claim of service connection for a bilateral knee condition in March 2019, which the Veteran appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). Both parties submitted a Joint Motion for Remand in August 2020 in which they requested the Court to vacate the March 2019 Board decision and return the matter to the Board. The Court granted the motion in August 2020 and remanded the matter for action consistent with the terms of the Joint Motion.

Pursuant to the Joint Motion, a remand is necessary for an addendum medical opinion. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA medical records from September 2018 to present from Palm Desert CBOC.

2. Forward the claims file to the December 2016 VA examiner, or another examiner if he is unavailable, for an addendum medical opinion. An in-person examination is unnecessary unless determined otherwise by the examiner. 

After a review of the claims file, the examiner must respond to the following:

Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s bilateral knee condition began in or is otherwise related to service?

The examiner must consider the following evidence in rendering an opinion: June 1963 treatment for right patella complaints (located in STR, received 06/15/2011); and July 1976 treatment for left knee tendonitis (located in STR – Medical, received 11/30/2016). 

  

 

MICHELLE L. KANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Lavan, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.