Citation Nr: 21064476 Decision Date: 10/20/21 Archive Date: 10/20/21 DOCKET NO. 15-07 083 DATE: October 20, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for a right knee strain, status post partial medial meniscotomy (right knee disability), prior to August 13, 2018 is remanded. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for a right knee disability since August 13, 2018 is remanded. Entitlement to rating in excess of 10 percent for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) for the period prior to April 25, 2018 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from October 1991 to December 1994. These matters are before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2018, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a video conference hearing. A transcript of his testimony is of record. This case was last before the Board in November 2020, when it was remanded for additional development. A September 2018 rating decision granted TDIU effective April 25, 2018. As the Veteran asserts that he was medically retired from his job in August 2014, in part, due to his service-connected GERD and right knee disability, the issue of entitlement to TDIU for the period prior to April 25, 2018 remains in appellate status as part and parcel of those claims. As such, the Board has jurisdiction to consider this matter. Harper v. Wilkie, 30 Vet. App. 356 (2018). 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for a right knee disability prior to August 13, 2018 is remanded. 2. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for a right knee disability since August 13, 2018 is remanded. 3. Entitlement to rating in excess of 10 percent for GERD is remanded. 4. Entitlement to a TDIU for the period prior to April 25, 2018 is remanded. The evidence indicates there may be outstanding relevant VA treatment records. The July 2021 Supplemental Statement of the Case indicated that treatment records from the Buffalo VA Medical Center dated through July 2021 had been reviewed. Nevertheless, updated VA treatment records have not been associated with the claims file since November 2020. As such records are potentially relevant to the claims, a remand to obtain the records is required. The November 2020 Board remand requested that the Veteran submit a VA Form 21-8940 detailing all employment since August 1, 2014. To date, the Veteran has not responded. As the Board must remand the claim for other development, the Veteran should be requested to submit updated employment information. The Veteran is advised that the failure to provide the above requested information could negatively affect his claim. Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 190, 193 (1991) ("The duty to assist is not always a one-way street. If a veteran wishes help, he cannot passively wait for it in those circumstances where he may or should have information that is essential in obtaining the putative evidence."). Finally, the Veteran's last VA examinations assessing the severity of his service-connected GERD and right knee disability were in August 2018. Given the passage of time and the fact that the Board must remand the claims for other development, the Veteran should be provided an opportunity to report for a VA examination to ascertain the current severity and manifestations of his GERD and right knee disability. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Ask the Veteran to provide the names and addresses of all medical care providers who have recently treated him for his claimed disabilities. After securing any necessary releases, request any relevant records identified. In addition, obtain updated VA treatment records. If any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified of such. 2. Ask the Veteran to fully complete a VA Form 21-8940, Veterans Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, to include detailing all education and training as well as all full-time or part-time employment after August 2014. 3. After the above record development is completed to the extent possible, schedule the Veteran for a VA knee examination to determine the current nature and severity of his service-connected right knee disability. The claims file should be reviewed in conjunction with the examination. All indicated tests should be conducted and the results reported. Range of motion testing should be undertaken, and should be tested actively and passively, in weight bearing, and after repetitive use. (a.) For each range of motion testing conducted, the examiner must state where in the range of motion the Veteran reports that he begins to experience pain. If the examiner is unable to conduct any of the required testing or concludes that the required testing is not necessary in this case, he or she should clearly explain why that is so. (b.) The examiner should also state whether there is likely to be additional range of motion loss due to flare-ups and due to pain, weakness, fatigability, or incoordination. If so, the examiner is asked to describe the additional loss, in degrees, if possible. In doing so, the examiner should elicit relevant information as to the Veteran's flares or ask him to describe the additional functional loss, if any, he suffered during flares and then estimate the Veteran's functional loss due to flares based on all the evidence of record, including the Veteran's lay information. (c.) If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement, or an opinion regarding flare-ups, symptoms, or functional impairment without speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). 4. After records development is completed, schedule the Veteran for a VA esophagal conditions examination to determine the current severity of his GERD. The claims file should be reviewed by the examiner. All necessary tests should be performed, and the results reported. All symptomatology associated with the GERD should be reported. K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Anderson 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.