Citation Nr: 21061769
Decision Date: 10/05/21	Archive Date: 10/05/21

DOCKET NO. 17-16 174
DATE: October 5, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to an initial rating higher than 10 percent for right ankle disability is remanded. 

The claim of entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder is remanded

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from July 2000 to December 2004.  

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

In December 2019, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board.  A transcript of the hearing is included in the record and has been reviewed.  

In January 2020, the Board remanded the claims on appeal for additional development.    

Another remand is warranted for additional medical inquiry.  

Pursuant to the January 2020 remand, the Veteran underwent VA examination in March 2020 and July 2021.  The reports of examination are probative.  Nevertheless, addendum reports are necessary to address certain aspects of the claims.  

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Return the case to the VA examiner who conducted the July 2021 examination into the left knee claim, or to a suitable substitute, for issuance of an addendum opinion.  After reviewing the electronic claims file, the examiner should answer the following questions:

(a)	Is it at least as likely as not (probability of 50 percent or more) that a left knee disorder had its onset during service or is related to an injury during service?

(b)	What is the baseline level of severity of the left knee disorder?  

This determination must be established by medical evidence created before the onset of aggravation or by the earliest medical evidence created at any time between the onset of aggravation and the receipt of medical evidence establishing the current level of severity of the left knee disorder. 

In answering this question, note the findings in the July 2021 VA report indicating that a left knee disorder is aggravated by service-connected right ankle disability.  

2. Return the case to the VA examiner who conducted the July 2021 examination into the right ankle claim, or to a suitable substitute, for issuance of an addendum report.  After reviewing the electronic claims file, the examiner should answer the following question:

What is the estimated range of motion during flare ups of the right ankle disability (as reported by the Veteran in the July 2016 VA report)?

Please explain in detail any opinion provided and the supporting rationale.  

The term "at least as likely as not" does not mean within the realm of medical possibility, but rather that the medical evidence both for and against a certain conclusion is so evenly divided that it is as medically sound to find in favor of such a conclusion as it is to find against it. 

In rendering the requested opinions, the examiner should note that the Veteran is competent to attest to matters of which he has first-hand knowledge, including observable symptomatology.  

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In remanding this case, the Board makes no credibility determination, expressed or implied, at this juncture.

If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he or she shall provide a complete explanation for why an opinion cannot be rendered.  In so doing, the examiner shall explain whether the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, or that he or she has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to that particular question(s).

 

 

G. A. WASIK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Christopher McEntee

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.