Citation Nr: 21071313
Decision Date: 11/30/21	Archive Date: 11/30/21

DOCKET NO. 15-27 342
DATE: November 30, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is remanded.

Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from October 2008 to August 2010.

These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from April 2012 and May 2015 rating decisions issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2012, service connection for a right knee disability was denied. In May 2015, service connection for PTSD was granted with a disability rating of 30 percent. The Veteran appealed these decisions. 

Appellants are entitled to initial review by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) of evidence added to the file by VA, and waiver of such review may not be presumed. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.1305. Additional evidence has been added to the file by VA since the May 2015 Statement of the Case (SOC) related to the right knee claim and August 2015 SOC related to the PTSD evaluation. Notably, VA treatment records related to the right knee and a March 2018 VA PTSD examination. 

The Veteran has not submitted a waiver of initial consideration of the new evidence by the AOJ. An attempt to obtain a waiver was sent to the Veteran in September 2021, but the applicable time period has lapsed without a response. Therefore, the AOJ must be given an opportunity to consider this evidence and properly adjudicate the claims.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Contact the Veteran in order to have him identify the names and addresses of all health care providers who have treated him for the issues on appeal. The Veteran should also be notified that he may submit evidence or treatment records to support his claim.  

The Board is particularly interested any outstanding records of VA medical treatment (generated after the last treatment notes of record).  

The AOJ should attempt to obtain any such records. All efforts to obtain such records should be documented in the claims folder. All available records should be associated with the Veteran's VA claims folder. The Veteran's claim should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. 

2. After undertaking any additional development deemed appropriate and giving the Veteran full opportunity to supplement the record, adjudicate the Veteran's pending claim in light of any additional evidence added to the record.  If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, 

 

the Veteran and his representative should be furnished with a Supplemental Statement of the Case and be afforded the applicable opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. 

 

M. Donohue

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	E.V. Palatt, 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.