Citation Nr: 21073699 Decision Date: 12/10/21 Archive Date: 12/10/21 DOCKET NO. 17-11 255 DATE: December 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent for partial hysterectomy is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from October 1989 to June 1993 and from May 2000 to March 2002. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which granted service connection for partial hysterectomy and assigned a 30 percent evaluation, effective February 8, 2007. The appeal was most recently before the Board in August 2021. The Board remanded the issue on appeal for additional development. Entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent for partial hysterectomy is remanded. A remand confers on the claimant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand order and imposes upon the VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the remand. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Consistent with this, once VA has provided a VA examination, it is required to provide an adequate one, regardless of whether it was legally obligated to provide an examination in the first place. Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007). The August 2021 Board remand explained that "the Veteran's last VA examination for her service-connected partial hysterectomy was in May 2015, more than six years ago. Since her last VA examination, the Veteran's VA treatment records in 2018 and 2019 document that she has complained of left lower quadrant pain and expressed concern about her remaining left ovary, because she had a ruptured cyst in the right ovary, which had to be removed." Therefore, it was determined that a contemporaneous VA examination was necessary to assess the current nature, extent, and severity of the Veteran's disability. In August 2021, the Veteran was afforded a VA gynecological teleconference examination. In the examination report, the examiner selected no for "has the Veteran undergone partial or complete oophorectomy. Additionally, the examiner did not indicate that the Veteran had removal of an ovary. However, the medical evidence clearly demonstrates that the Veteran underwent removal of her right ovary and a left ovarian cystotomy in October 2011. See October 2011 Medical Note. Additionally, the Veteran is currently service-connected for right salpingo-oophorectomy associated with partial hysterectomy. As such, it appears that the examiner did not satisfactorily review the medical evidence of record or obtain an in-depth medical history. See Id. Therefore, an additional VA examination is needed to evaluate the Veteran's current condition. Accordingly, remand is warranted for further development. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an in-person examination by an appropriately qualified clinician to determine the current severity of her service-connected partial hysterectomy. A full examination, to include any evaluations, studies, or tests deemed necessary by the examiner, should be accomplished. The clinician 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. The examiner should comment on the extent of any functional impairment caused by the Veteran's service-connected partial hysterectomy, to include in an occupational setting and in performing ordinary, daily activities. All findings should be fully documented in the examination report. A. J. Spector Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Temple, 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.