Citation Nr: 21004876 Decision Date: 01/28/21 Archive Date: 01/28/21 DOCKET NO. 15-02 355 DATE: January 28, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for groin strain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from April 1998 to April 2001. These matters come before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2011 decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office. In June 2017, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. These matters were remanded by the Board in June 2018. While further delay is regrettable, the Board finds remand is again necessary before a decision may be rendered with respect to the issues on appeal. The June 2018 Board remand directed that opinions be obtained addressing the claimed disabilities. While opinions were obtained in May 2019, with addendum opinions provided in September 2019, the Board finds the opinions to be incomplete. In that regard, in both May and September 2019, the examiner opined that the Veteran has “only functional and mechanical pain” with no specific pathology. As pain alone may constitute a disability, this statement alone is not sufficient ground on which to base a negative opinion with respect to service connection. See Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1367-68 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (finding pain resulting in functional impairment, even if there is no identified underlying diagnosis, can constitute a disability). Accordingly, remand is again warranted in order to obtain addendum opinions. Updated VA treatment records, as well as any relevant private treatment records identified by the Veteran should also be obtained and associated with the record. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify all outstanding treatment records relevant to his groin strain, hip, and knee claims. All identified VA records should be added to the claims file. All other properly identified records should be obtained if the necessary authorization to obtain the records is provided by the Veteran. If any records are not available, or the Veteran identifies sources of treatment but does not provide authorization to obtain records, appropriate action should be taken (see 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)-(e)), to include notifying the Veteran of the unavailability of the records. 2. After records development is completed, the claims file should be sent to an appropriate examiner to offer an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that any current disability (to include pain resulting in functional impairment even absent a formal diagnosis) of the groin, hips, or knees had onset during service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, to include the injuries and complaints documented in the Veteran’s service treatment records. In offering the opinion, the examiner is asked to consider the Veteran’s lay statements regarding pain and functional impairment, as well as the buddy statements submitted in 2011 and 2016 regarding symptoms after service. The need for an examination is left to the discretion of the examiner. A rationale for all opinions offered is requested as adjudicators are precluded from making any medical findings. Nathan Kroes Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. D. Bruce, 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.