Citation Nr: 21073813 Decision Date: 12/10/21 Archive Date: 12/10/21 DOCKET NO. 17-12 444 DATE: December 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service-connection for a right knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service-connection for a left knee disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1950 to April 1954. He testified at a hearing before the undersigned in August 2021; a transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. 1. Entitlement to service-connection for a right knee disability is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service-connection for a left knee disability is remanded. The Veteran contends that his bilateral knee disability is related to an in-service injury. He testified that he was in a Jeep with 3 other service members when they hit a landmine. He stated that he was sent to a hospital where he had surgery to remove shrapnel from his knees. At the hearing, the Veteran testified during service he ran over a landmine and was hospitalized for a long period, during which he underwent knee surgery. He claims he's been seeking medical care for knee problems since service. The Veteran's service treatment records are unavailable and may have been destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). Hospital admission cards indicate the Veteran was hospitalized for 7 days in December 1951 for an undisclosed reason, 57 days from June to August 1953 for general surgery of a leg abscess, 13 days for abscess leg treatment in September 1953, and 2 days for tonsilitis in December 1953. August 2015 VA treatment records include a notation that the Veteran had right knee surgery during service, but the "details not known." Given the Veteran's testimony of the in-service injury, the hospital admission cards and the lack of service treatment records, along with the Veteran's report of continuous symptoms since service, a medical opinion is needed to decide the claim. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Veteran, and, with the Veteran's assistance identify and obtain copies of any pertinent medical or VA treatment records, to include Resurgens Orthopedics in Marietta or Kennesaw, and add them to the record. If VA attempts to obtain any outstanding records which are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified. 2. After completion of the above, obtain a medical opinion from an appropriate clinician on the likely etiology of any diagnosed knee disability. Copies of all pertinent records must be made available to the examiner. If the examiner determines that an opinion cannot be provided without an examination, one should be scheduled (or tele-health interview, review of the record, etc., if an in-person examination is not feasible). After reviewing the record, the examiner is asked to answer the following questions: Is it at least as likely as not that any currently diagnosed disability affecting either knee was incurred in or is otherwise related to service? In answering this question, the examiner must specifically address the multiple inservice hospital admissions and the Veteran's report that he was hospitalized after running over a landmine. A complete rationale must be provided for all opinions. If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resort to speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge; the examiner's own expertise, or; whether additional facts are required and note what, if any, additional evidence would permit such an opinion to be made. M.E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board T. Jarman, 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.