Citation Nr: 21067202 Decision Date: 11/03/21 Archive Date: 11/03/21 DOCKET NO. 14-43 108 DATE: November 3, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1977 to September 1981. In September 2020, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder and a low back disorder. In July 2021, pursuant to a Joint Motion to Remand (JMR), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC or the Court) vacated that decision and returned the matter to the Board. The Veteran contends that her disabilities had onset in service and continued without interruption. The Veteran has reported extraordinary pain after helicopter jumps during basic training. The Veteran was treated in 1980 for a right knee abcess. she attributes her disorders to carrying 50 pound backpacks and rifles every day during basic training. She also cites her duties pushing and pulling boxes of records as a patient administrative specialist in a medical records unit. The Board noted in the prior decision that the Veteran's June 2012 MRI showed right knee tricompartmental chondrosis and the Veteran's August 2017 VA examination report diagnosed mild hypertrophic osteoarthritis of the back. The Board found that the evidence of record weighs against a showing that these disorders had onset in, or are related to, active service. The Veteran's in-service records, including her June 1981 separation examination, do not show treatment for a right knee or back disorder. While the Veteran was treated in 1980 for a right knee abcess, the Veteran's service records state that the abcess did not involve the knee joint. In fact, the first treatment of record for the right knee is her May 1998 MRI, documenting pain since about 1997, 16 years after her separation from active duty. The first treatment of record for the Veteran's back is a non-VA lumbar spine examination dated November 200524 years after the Veteran's separation from active duty. In a July 2017 statement, the Veteran contends that her disabilities onset in service and continued without interruption. The Board gave more weight to August 2017 examination report and opinion. After examining the medical and lay evidence of record, the examiner opined that given the Veteran's MOS and record, it is less likely that her current disabilities were due to military training. As the examiner explained, it is less likely that the Veteran's disabilities onset due to her duties in service. If the Veteran's disorders were due to the hardships of basic training and having repeatedly moved heavy boxes on active duty, her symptoms would have onset much sooner. A July 2021, the Court found that the August 2017 VA medical opinion relied on by the Board was inadequate. The medical opinion is inadequate because it is conclusory, and the examiner failed to consider and address whether the Veteran's right knee and/or low back disabilities were caused by her MOS duties. Specifically, because the August 2017 VA medical opinion only addressed whether the ascertained conditions were related to the rigors of military training, it did not sufficiently inform the Board on whether the Veteran's right knee and low back disabilities were caused by her MOS duties. the examiner's opinion states that the Veteran's period of service was 18 years before the onset of symptoms, however, the examiner did not explain why the delayed onset is significant. On remand, the Board shall obtain a new VA medical opinion for an examiner to address whether the Veteran's right knee disorder and low back disorders were caused by her MOS Duties. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination for the right knee and low back disorder. The examiner must review the claims file. The examiner is asked to provide a response to the following: Is either disability at least as likely as not related to service, including whether the right knee disorder and low back disorders were caused by her military occupational specialty duties as an administrative specialist, involving duties pushing and pulling boxes of records as a patient administrative specialist. Provide a complete rationale to support the opinion(s). In providing the requested opinion, consider the Veteran's description of her in-service injury and symptoms as well as his post-service symptoms. If the examiner finds delayed onset is significant, the examiner should explain why. The examiner should also address the inservice reports of knee abcess in 1980. H. N. SCHWARTZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board P. Yoffe, 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.