Citation Nr: 21072496 Decision Date: 12/03/21 Archive Date: 12/03/21 DOCKET NO. 19-17 413 DATE: December 3, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right knee condition is remanded. Entitlement to a temporary 100 percent disability rating for convalescence purposes for a right knee condition is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1980 to December 1980 and from November 1991 to May 1992. The Veteran also served in the Army National Guard. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2018 rating decision from a Department of Veterans Appeals (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2019, the Board remanded the Veteran's petition to reopen the claim of service connection for a right knee disability for a due process reason. Then, in a May 2021 Board decision, this matter was remanded for a VA examination and medical opinion. Subsequently, in July 2021, the Veteran was provided a VA examination. However, the Board finds that another remand is necessary for an addendum medical opinion is needed. As noted in the Board's prior March 2020 and May 2021 remands, the Veteran's former attorney representative has withdrawn from the appeal, and the Veteran is now unrepresented. See Third Party Correspondence received 12/11/2019. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee condition is remanded. The Veteran asserts that his right knee condition diagnosed as degenerative arthritis is related to service. Specifically, at the VA examination the Veteran attributed his right knee pain to the years on active duty "with the amount of running due to the intense physical training and heavy gear he had to wear." See C&P Exam received 7/16/2021 at page 3. The Veteran has also attributed his right knee condition to a jump off a truck during a training exercise. See Capri received 6/23/2021 at page 634. The Veteran received a VA examination in July 2021. At the examination, the Veteran was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis, other than post-traumatic, and his right knee total replacement surgery was noted. The VA examiner provided a negative nexus statement opining that she carefully reviewed the Veteran's medical history and found nothing that pertained to a right knee condition one year after service. The earliest complaints found on the record were from 2003. See C&P Exam received 7/12/2021 at page 2. Since the VA examiner's opinion was based on the absence of medical records, an addendum medical opinion is needed. See Dalton v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 23, 40 (2007). Additionally, on remand the VA examiner is directed to consider the lay statements from the Veteran, his spouse, and his mother. The Veteran has stated in medical records that his right knee injury was the result of a jump from a tank. See Capri received 8/22/2016 at page 634. He submitted lay statements from his spouse and his mother that they observed the Veteran's knee problem for years. See Congressionals received 4/09/2018. Further, an addendum is need to consider the competent lay evidence of record, to include the statement of aforementioned family members. See Miller v. Wilkie, 32 Vet. App. 249, 254-55 (2020) (stating that a medical opinion that fails to consider a veteran's lay statements and relies on the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence to conclude that there is no link between a veteran's in-service injury and current disability may be inadequate). 2. Entitlement to a temporary 100 percent disability rating for convalescence purposes for a right knee condition is remanded. Finally, because a decision on the remanded issue of service connection for a right knee condition would significantly impact a decision on the issue of a temporary 100 percent disability rating for convalescence purposes for a right knee condition, the issues are inextricably intertwined. A remand of the claim of temporary 100 percent disability rating for convalescence purposes for a right knee condition is required. These matters are REMANDED for the following action: Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran's right knee condition diagnosed as right knee arthritis is at least as likely as not related to a jump of a truck during service. The examiner is asked to provide a response to the following: (a) Direct service connection Is the right knee condition diagnosed as arthritis at least as likely as not related to service? **In doing so, please consider the Veteran's and other lay statements regarding his in-service knee injury and post-service knee problems. See Capri received 8/22/2016 at page 634; see also Congressionals received 4/09/2018.** (b) Chronic diseases under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a) Is it at least as likely as not that the right knee arthritis (1) began during active service, (2) manifested within the presumptive period after discharge from service, or (3) was noted during service with continuity of the same symptomatology since service? Provide a comprehensive rationale to support the opinions. In providing the requested opinions, consider the Veteran's description of his in-service injury and symptoms as well as his post-service symptoms. If there is any medical reason to accept or reject the proposition that the Veteran's reported injury and symptoms in service and thereafter represented the onset of his current disability, this should be noted. Stated another way, do the Veteran's reports about his symptoms align with how the currently diagnosed disability is known to develop or are the Veteran's reports generally inconsistent with medical knowledge or implausible? Paul Sorisio Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Dixon, 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.