Citation Nr: 21005649 Decision Date: 02/02/21 Archive Date: 02/02/21 DOCKET NO. 18-36 157 DATE: February 2, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for residuals, lumbosacral strain, with degenerative disc disease L5-S1 (hereinafter lumbar spine condition), is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served with the Army National Guard and had verified periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from February 1980 to May 1980 and from July 1994 to August 1994. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The matters seeking service connection for right hip and leg condition, an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss, and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) are addressed in a separate Board decision as the Veteran has a different representative for those claims.   Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbar spine condition is remanded. The Veteran most recently underwent a VA examination for his service-connected lumbar spine condition in January 2017. The VA examination report reflects that the Veteran reported that he experienced flare ups once monthly where his back pain increased to 10/10 in severity and that such flare ups typically occurred with walking, prolonged sitting or standing, or driving. A March 2019 opinion from Dr. T.C., a private physician, opined that the Veteran’s “limitations related to [his lumbar spine condition] are such that he is unable to sit, stand, or walk for prolonged periods.” Such evidence illustrates that the Veteran’s lumbar spine condition may have worsened since the January 2017 VA examination. As such, a new examination is needed to evaluate the current severity of the condition. 38 C.F.R. § 3.327(a); Palczewski v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 174, 182 (2007). The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain and associate with the Veteran’s electronic record VA treatment records from February 2018 to the present. Contact the Veteran and afford him the opportunity to identify or submit any pertinent evidence in support of his claim, to include records of any private treatment. Based on his response, attempt to procure copies of all records which have not been obtained from identified treatment sources. If any of the records requested are unavailable, clearly document the claims file to that effect and notify the Veteran of any inability to obtain these records, in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e). 2. Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to evaluate the severity of the Veteran’s lumbar spine condition. The entire claims file should be made available to the examiner in conjunction with this request. All testing deemed necessary to rate a lumbar spine disability under the criteria of the rating schedule must be conducted and the results reported in detail. In so doing, the examiner must 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). M. SORISIO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Breitbach, 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.