Citation Nr: 21068216
Decision Date: 11/09/21	Archive Date: 11/09/21

DOCKET NO. 16-01 198
DATE: November 9, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bilateral knee disability prior to June 15, 2011, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1993 to April 1996.

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).  In July 2020, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board.  A transcript of the hearing is included in the electronic claims file and has been reviewed.  In September and December 2020 and May 2021, the Board remanded this matter because the issue on appeal is intertwined with a pending claim before the RO.  For the same reason, another remand is warranted.

The claim of entitlement to an effective date of service connection for bilateral knee disability earlier than June 15, 2011, is remanded.

The Veteran claims that the RO committed clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in a June 1997 rating decision, which denied his December 1996 original claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral knee disability.

Inasmuch as a decision regarding the CUE claim could impact the Board's decision regarding the appropriate effective date here, the Board has suspended its decision until a final decision has been rendered regarding the CUE claim.  

The RO addressed the CUE claim in an October 2020 supplemental statement of the case, and then denied the claim in a February 2021 rating decision.  Another remand is warranted, however, because the decision regarding the CUE claim is not final.  The appeal period for the RO's decision has not expired.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.52.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Readjudicate the claim of entitlement to an earlier effective date of service connection for bilateral knee disability once the February 2021 rating decision denying CUE is final.  Then, if warranted, return the claim on appeal to the Board.

 

 

G. A. WASIK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	James Hekel

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  This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.