Citation Nr: 21072716
Decision Date: 12/06/21	Archive Date: 12/06/21

DOCKET NO. 14-15 935
DATE: December 6, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for lumbosacral strain is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty for training from April 1957 to May 1958 and on active duty from July 1961 to July 1963.  The appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse who has been substituted as the claimant for the purpose of processing the claim to completion.  

In a November 2019 decision, the Board, in pertinent part, denied service connection for a lumbosacral cervical strain.  The appellant appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), which was vacated pursuant to an April 2021 Order, following an April 2021 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMR).  

Entitlement to service connection for lumbosacral strain is remanded.

In the April 2021 JMR, the parties agreed that the Board's November 2019 decision did not adequately address relevant evidence in the form of the Veteran's lay statements and that the 2013 VA examination on which the Board relied was inadequate for rating purposes in that the examiner's opinion did not adequately address why the Veteran's back disability was not related to the in-service injury shown in his service treatment records (STRs).  It was noted that the rationale for the examiner's negative nexus opinion relied solely on the lack of documentation of continuity of symptoms and care after separation without taking the Veteran's lay statements into account.  

In light of the foregoing, the Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of service connection for lumbosacral strain because a VA examiner has not adequately opined whether the Veteran's back disorder is related to the back injury noted during service.  Specifically, the examiner has been instructed by the JMR to take the lay statements in the record into account in addressing the claim.  

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran's lumbosacral strain is at least as likely as not related to the low back strain noted in the Veteran's STRs.  The examiner must address the lay statements in the records regarding the Veteran's complaints of low back pain following his separation from active duty.  

 

 

A. ISHIZAWAR

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Joseph P. Gervasio

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.