Citation Nr: 21064940
Decision Date: 10/22/21	Archive Date: 10/22/21

DOCKET NO. 17-62 598A
DATE: October 22, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for a left achilles tendon disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran honorably served in the Navy from July 1967 to June 1978. This matter is before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2017 rating decision. 

As an initial matter, the Veteran was scheduled for a videoconference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in September 2021. the Veteran was properly notified of the time and date of his scheduled hearing and failed to appear. The Board acknowledges the Veteran's representative's request to reschedule or postpone this hearing. However, no good cause has yet been shown for the Veteran's failure to appear therefore this request is denied and the hearing request is deemed withdrawn.  The Board notes that the indication from the private attorney is that he was ready and on for the hearing but the Veteran, after being adequately notified, simply did not respond to multiple contact attempts from the Board's hearing unit and did not attempt to log on to the virtual hearing room. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704 (d).

In a September 2021 Appellate Brief, the Veteran's representative argued that the Veteran's current left achilles tendon disability is related to a left achilles tendon tear incurred during service in August 1971. Service treatment records confirm that the Veteran tore his left achilles tendon playing football during service in August 1971 and underwent a surgical repair. The Veteran has submitted lay statements outlining a chronicity of left achilles tendon pain since this in-service injury which intensified following a gardening accident in 2015. 

The Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination to ascertain the nature and cause of his claimed left achilles tendon disability. The Board finds that the foregoing evidence triggers VA's duty to provide a VA examination and an accompanying medical opinion. See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006).

This matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain any outstanding treatment records to include VA medical center or private treatment records.

2. Provide the Veteran with a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of his left achilles tendon disability. All pertinent symptomatology and findings must be reported in detail. All indicated tests and studies must be accomplished. 

Based upon a complete review of the evidence of record, the VA examiner must state whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent probability or more) that any currently diagnosed left achilles tendon disabilities, or diagnosed during the appeal period, even if resolved, were caused by or incurred because of events or injuries during the Veteran's active-duty service. 

In the requested opinion the examiner MUST specifically consider and address the Veteran's left achilles tendon tear during service in August 1971 and his reports of chronic pain since that injury which potentially intensified following a gardening accident in 2015. 

The examiner must otherwise provide a complete rationale for all conclusions reached.

 

 

Jennifer White

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Kyle McKone

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.