Citation Nr: 21067427 Decision Date: 11/04/21 Archive Date: 11/04/21 DOCKET NO. 16-27 651 DATE: November 4, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service in the Air Force from February 1977 to February 1981 and from March 1981 to September 1994. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a January 2012 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By way of history, the Veteran appealed an April 2020 Board decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC or "Court") in July 2021; whereas the parties filed a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR). The Court vacated the Board's 2020 decision to the extent that it denied the claim for entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability and remanded the case for further development in compliance with the directives specified in the JMPR. The Veteran contends that he is entitled to service connection for a right knee disability. In the JMPR, the parties agreed that the Board provided an inadequate statement of reasons or bases as to whether service connection for a right knee disability is warranted based on continuity of symptomatology by requiring evidence that the Veteran's current arthritis is etiologically related to service. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.309(a). They further agreed that a remand is warranted for the Board to obtain a new VA medical opinion as to the etiology of Veteran's right knee disability because the October 2011 VA examiner did not address the Veteran's lay reports of symptoms since service as part of the opinion and the Board did not explicitly reject the credibility of the Veteran's lay reports. Miller v. Wilkie, 32 Vet. App. 249, 262 (2020); see also Smith v. Wilkie, 32 Vet. App. 332, 340 (2020). As such, pursuant to the JMPR, the Board is remanding the claim for service connection for a right knee disability to obtain an addendum opinion to determine whether the Veteran's right knee disability is related to service. The examiner is asked to consider the Veteran's competent reports of symptomatology since service and to also address whether the Veteran's right knee disability is etiologically related to the July 1980 in-service motorcycle accident and resulting trauma to the right knee as well as the diagnosed right knee abrasion, as documented in his STRs. D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97, 104 (2008). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate examiner to determine the nature and etiology of the right knee disability. The record, including a complete copy of this remand, should be made available for review. Then, based upon a review of the entirety of the claims file, the history presented by the Veteran, and the examination results, the examiner is requested to provide an opinion as to the following questions: Is it at least as likely as not (i.e. a 50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran's right knee disability had its clinical onset during military service, or was caused by or is otherwise related to his active duty service, to include the documented in-service injury? In rendering the above opinion, the examiner is asked to consider and address the Veteran's lay statements regarding his continued right knee symptoms since the reported onset in service and the Veteran's statements that the symptoms have continued/worsened since service, to include pain using stairs, and symptoms of pressure, clicking/popping when he walks, giving way, instability, and stiffness in the right knee. The examiner should address whether the actual in-service trauma from his in-service motorcycle accident caused arthritis in the long-term versus the in-service abrasion turning into arthritis. See June 1980 STR documenting in-service motorcycle accident and injury to right knee; July 1980 STR X-ray report showing Veteran was involved in a motorcycle accident and had trauma to the right knee. The examiner is also asked to provide a clear rationale, whether these in-service complaints and injury for the right knee disability are etiologically related to his current right knee disability. The examiner is remined that the fact the Veteran's condition was normal at discharge does not preclude service connection being granted for a post-service condition if it is, in fact, related to the service injury. Please also consider that the Veteran asserts that he requested a separation physical examination in 1994 but was refused one. It should be noted that the Veteran is competent to attest to matters of which they have first-hand knowledge, including observable symptomatology. If there is a clinical basis to support or doubt the lay history provided by the Veteran, the examiner should provide a fully reasoned explanation. Rationale must be provided for the opinions proffered. If the examiner determines that a requested opinion is not possible without resort to mere speculation, then the examiner must explain why. MICHELLE L. KANE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board G.Hoy, Associate 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.