Citation Nr: 21065333
Decision Date: 10/25/21	Archive Date: 10/25/21

DOCKET NO. 18-18 897A
DATE: October 25, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to a disability rating higher than 10 percent for residuals of a traumatic injury to the left knee is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January to September 1979. 

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).

The Board denied the Veteran's claim in a June 2019 decision.  The Veteran appealed the Board's denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In April 2020, the Court issued an order granting an April 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), remanding the claim to the Board for further action.  In November 2020, the Board remanded this matter for additional medical inquiry.  

Another remand is warranted.  

The JMR requested medical inquiry into "pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing [.]"  See 38 C.F.R. § 4.59.  

In response to the November 2020 remand, the Veteran underwent VA examination in April 2021.  The report expressly addresses active and passive motion.  But it does not expressly address range of motion in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing.  Unchecked boxes  labeled weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing  indicate no pain on weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing.  But this is not entirely clear, particularly given how the examiner expressly addressed pain and range of motion on both active and passive motion.  

To clarify this matter, an addendum report should be issued.  

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Return the case to the examiner who conducted the April 2021 VA examination, or to a suitable substitute, for issuance of an addendum report addressing left knee disability.  After again reviewing the electronic claims file, the examiner should answer the following question.  

Accounting for pain, what was the Veteran's left knee range of motion in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing? 

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

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.