Citation Nr: 21073171 Decision Date: 12/07/21 Archive Date: 12/07/21 DOCKET NO. 18-36 709 DATE: December 7, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for radiculopathy, left lower extremity, is remanded. Entitlement to initial ratings in excess of 10 percent prior to April 8, 2018, and in excess of zero percent from that date, for radiculopathy, right lower extremity, is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative joint disease, left knee, is remanded. Entitlement to a compensable rating for plantar calcaneal bone spur, left foot, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from February 1994 to June 1994 and in the U.S. Army from January 2009 to January 2011. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran and his spouse testified at a virtual hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in September 2021; the hearing transcript is of record. 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for radiculopathy, left lower extremity is remanded. 2. Entitlement to initial ratings in excess of 10 percent prior to April 8, 2018, and in excess of zero percent from that date, for radiculopathy, right lower extremity is remanded. 3. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative joint disease, left knee is remanded. 4. Entitlement to a compensable rating for plantar calcaneal bone spur, left foot is remanded. The Veteran and his spouse testified that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities of right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, left knee arthritis, and left foot bone spur, have worsened since the most recent VA examinations of those disabilities in April 2018. Accordingly, on remand, the Veteran should be scheduled for new VA examinations to determine the current severity of these disabilities. 38 C.F.R. § 3.327 (a); see Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997). Additionally, updated VA treatment records should be obtained. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records for the period from July 2019 to the present. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of his right and left lower extremity radiculopathy. The examiner should provide a full description of the Veteran's disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating these disabilities under appropriate rating criteria. 3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected left foot plantar calcaneal bone spur. The examiner should provide a full description of the Veteran's disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating this disability under its appropriate rating criteria. 4. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected left knee disability. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran's disability under the rating criteria. In so doing, the examiner must test the Veteran's active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. 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 or with repeated use over time. (Continued on the next page) If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement based on direct observation, the examiner should provide an estimate, if possible, of the additional impairment due to flare-ups or with repeated use over time based on the other evidence of record and the Veteran's statements. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement without speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). D. JOHNSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. G. Mazzucchelli, 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.