Citation Nr: 21071284 Decision Date: 11/30/21 Archive Date: 11/30/21 DOCKET NO. 16-06 547 DATE: November 30, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for allergic rhinitis after April 5, 2013, is remanded. Entitlement to an increased rating for a lumbosacral spine disability in excess of 20 percent after April 5, 2013, is remanded. Entitlement to an increased rating for a cervical spine disability in excess of 10 percent after April 5, 2013, is remanded. Entitlement to an increased initial rating for fibromyalgia in excess of 10 percent is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from August 1985 until his honorable discharge in August 2000. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 rating decision of the Regional Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 1. Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for allergic rhinitis after April 5, 2013. 2. Entitlement to an increased rating for a lumbosacral spine disability in excess of 20 percent after April 5, 2013. 3. Entitlement to an increased rating for a cervical spine disability in excess of 10 percent after April 5, 2013. 4. Entitlement to an increased initial rating for fibromyalgia in excess of 10 percent. Due to the similar dispositions for the above claims on appeal, the Board will address them in a common discussion below. The Veteran asserts that his disabilities have worsened since his last examinations for all of the claims on appeal. See February 2016 Form 9. He initially applied for service connection for fibromyalgia and increased ratings for his other claims in April 2013. He was then awarded service connection for fibromyalgia in a March 2014 rating decision and then subsequently filed a notice of disagreement (NOD) within one year in March 2015. That rating decision also denied increased ratings for his lower back, cervical spine, and allergic rhinitis disabilities and his March 2015 NOD also addressed those claims. The Veteran had VA examinations for the four disabilities on appeal in December 2015. Over the course of six years, he asserts that his disabilities have worsened. He had a prior VA examination for his spine disabilities and allergic rhinitis in March 2000. These examinations are too remote in time for the Board to accurately rate the severity of his disabilities and so his claims must be remanded for updated examinations. Furthermore, VA treatment records were associated with the file after the issuance of the supplemental statement of the case but before the claims were certified to the Board. As a result, the claims must be remanded. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. After any additional records are associated with the claims file, schedule the Veteran for examinations to determine the current severity of his service-connected (a) allergic rhinitis, (b) lumbosacral spine disability, (c) cervical spine disability, and (d) fibromyalgia. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran's (a) allergic rhinitis, (b) lumbosacral spine disability, (c) cervical spine disability, and (d) fibromyalgia under the specific rating criteria. In doing so, the examiner must test the Veteran's active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing (if applicable). The examiner must also attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups. If the Veteran suffers from such loss, the examiner should express the loss in terms of degrees of additional loss in range of motion (i.e., in addition to that observed clinically), if feasible, taking into account all of the evidence, including the Veteran's competent statements with respect to the frequency, duration, characteristics, and severity of his limitations. (Continued on the next page) The examiner is reminded to report on the existence or absence of nasal polyps and the degree of nasal passage obstruction in the allergic rhinitis examination. 2. After, readjudicate the Veteran's claim. If the claim remains denied, send the Veteran and his representative a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC), and allow them an appropriate time to respond before returning the issue to the Board for further appellate consideration. M. Tenner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. A. Johnston, 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.