Citation Nr: 21062801
Decision Date: 10/12/21	Archive Date: 10/12/21

DOCKET NO. 13-15 523
DATE: October 12, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a thoracolumbar spine condition (claimed as back pain) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, had service from November 1974 to October 1988. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2012 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in San Diego, California. In November 2016, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ); a transcript of the hearing is associated with the claims file.

The Board issued a July 2020 decision denying entitlement to service connection for a back disability. The Veteran appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (the Court). In a July 2021 Order pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the Court vacated the Board's July 2020 decision and remanded claim to the Board for additional development and readjudication consistent with the terms of the JMR.

1. Service Connection for a Back Disability is remanded.

In the July 2021 JMR, the parties agreed that additional development of the record was necessary. Specifically, the parties indicated October 2017 and August 2019 examinations may have been inadequate. As such, remand is necessary in order to provide the Board with an adequate record to make a fully informed decision.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Associate any VA treatment records since February 2020 with the electronic claims file.

2. Obtain an addendum opinion from an orthopedic surgeon. The examiner must indicate review of the claims file in the examination report. If the VA examiner determines that an additional examination of the Veteran is necessary to provide reliable opinions as to causation, such examination should be scheduled; however, the Veteran should not be required to report for another examination as a matter of course, if it is not found to be necessary

The examiner is asked to provide the following opinions:

a)	The examiner should opine whether it is it at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that the current back disability had onset in service, is etiologically related to active service, or in the case of degenerative arthritis, had its onset within one year of separation from service (1989)?

The examiner should specifically comment on:

1.	The Veteran's reports of an in-service 30 fall from a forklift. Of note, the Board has found that the Veteran's testimony of an injury from this fall to be competent and credible.

2.	The Veteran's reported 1987 motor vehicle accident.

3.	The Veteran reports that the current back disability had its onset in 1978 or 1979 and that the in-service fall led to the current back disability.

A rationale should be given for all opinions and conclusions rendered.

 

 

H. SEESEL

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Teague, 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.