Citation Nr: 21073177 Decision Date: 12/07/21 Archive Date: 12/07/21 DOCKET NO. 16-60 887 DATE: December 7, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbar degenerative arthritis is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 2008 to August 2014. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned in an August 2021 Board hearing. A transcript of the hearing is of record. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbar degenerative arthritis is remanded. The Veteran contends that her back disability is more severe than it was when she was last examined. In August 2021, the Veteran testified that her back disability had become more severe since it was last examined in January 2015. The Board notes in the January 2015 examination the Veteran did not report any flare-ups of her back. In her August 2021 testimony, the Veteran stated that she now had flare-ups. The Board finds that a remand is required. As the Veteran last underwent a VA back examination in 2015 and contends her back disability had gotten worse, the Board finds a remand is required for a contemporaneous examination to determine the severity of the Veteran's lumbar degenerative arthritis. See Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377, 381 (1994) (finding that the Board should have ordered contemporaneous examination of the veteran because a 23-month-old exam was too remote in time to adequately support the decision in an appeal for an increased rating); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.326 (a). Further, the Board notes that the January 2015 VA examination was not adequate for adjudication. The January 2015 examination did not comply with Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158, 168 (2016) because the examiner did not provide passive range of motions measurements for the Veteran's back. Therefore, upon remand the Veteran must be provided the opportunity to undergo a VA examination to determine the severity of her service-connected lumbar degenerative arthritis. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of her service-connected lumbar degenerative arthritis. 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. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement based on direct observation, the examiner should provide an estimate, if at all possible, of the additional impairment due to flare-ups 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). S. L. Kennedy Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Robert Batten 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.