Citation Nr: 21071446 Decision Date: 11/30/21 Archive Date: 11/30/21 DOCKET NO. 18-53 098A DATE: November 30, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for a left elbow disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service in the U.S. Army from February 1970 to October 1971. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2016 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ), which granted service connection for left elbow olecranon bursitis and assigned a 10 percent rating effective September 28, 2008. The Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in October 2021. A transcript of that proceeding is associated with the claims file. 1. Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for a left elbow disability is remanded. The Board notes that the Veteran's last VA examination to assess his left elbow disability occurred in February 2016. Since the February 2016 examination, the Veteran has contended that elbow disability is worse than what his current rating contemplates. In October 2021, the Veteran testified at his hearing that he experiences range of motion and strength deficits in his left elbow. He further testified that his left-hand freezes due to his elbow condition and he experiences pain when any pressure is applied to the elbow. The Veteran testified that these symptoms cause functional impairment, including an inability to drive long distances. The Board finds that the February 2016 examination is too remote in time to address the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected left elbow disability. See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997) (holding that a Veteran was entitled to a new examination after a two-year period between the last VA examination and the Veteran's contention that his disability had increased in severity) and Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377, 381 (1994) (an examination too remote for rating purposes cannot be considered "contemporaneous"). Therefore, the Board must remand this matter to afford the Veteran an opportunity to undergo a VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his left elbow disability. See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997); VAOPGCPREC 11-95 (1995), 60 Fed. Reg. 43,186 (1995). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the Veteran's claims file any outstanding VA treatment records. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his left elbow disability. Any and all studies, tests, and evaluations deemed necessary by the examiners should be performed. The examiner is requested to review all pertinent records associated with the claims file. The examiner should note that the Veteran is competent to attest to matters of which he has first-hand knowledge, including observable symptomatology. If there is a medical basis to support or doubt the history provided by the Veteran, the examiner should provide a fully reasoned explanation. The examiner should report all signs and symptoms necessary for rating the disability under the rating criteria. In particular, the examiner should provide the range of motion in degrees and test the range of motion in (1) active motion, (2) passive motion, (3) weight-bearing, and (4) non-weight-bearing. If the examiner is unable to conduct the required testing or concludes that the required testing is not necessary in this case, he or she should clearly explain why this is so. The presence of objective evidence of pain, excess fatigability, incoordination, and weakness should also be noted, as should any additional disability (including limitation of motion) due to these factors. In addition, based on examination results and the Veteran's documented history and assertions, the examiner should indicate whether, and to what extent, the Veteran experiences functional loss due to pain and/or any of the other symptoms noted above during flare-ups and/or with repeated use; to the extent possible, the examiner should express any such additional functional loss in terms of additional degrees of limited motion. In this regard, even if the Veteran is not experiencing a flare-up at the time of the examination, the examiner must elicit relevant information as to the Veteran's flares or ask him to describe the additional functional loss, if any, he suffers during flares and then estimate the Veteran's functional loss due to flares based on all the evidence of record-including the Veteran's lay information-or explain why he or she could not do so. The examiner must also indicate whether the Veteran has any neurological manifestations as a result of his left elbow disability. If so, the examiner should indicate the nerve or nerves affected, whether the neurological symptoms are better described as paralysis, neuritis, or neuralgia, and describe the severity of the neurological symptoms. 3. After completing the preceding development, the AOJ should re-adjudicate the claim. GAYLE STROMMEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Beech, 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.