Citation Nr: 21007513 Decision Date: 02/09/21 Archive Date: 02/09/21 DOCKET NO. 16-35 815 DATE: February 9, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for a lumbar spine disorder.   REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 2001 to January 2004. The case is on appeal from a September 2014 rating decision. In a June 2019 decision, the Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disorder. The Veteran subsequently appealed the denied claim to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The parties to the appeal filed an August 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (Joint Motion) to remand the claim to the Board. In an Order issued later in August 2020, the Court granted the Joint Motion. Service connection for a lumbar spine disorder. The Veteran contends that he has degenerative arthritis, lumbar spine, due to parachute jumps while on active duty. The Veteran reported that he began experiencing back pain in July 2001. After completing basic training and airborne school at Fort Benning, the Veteran was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. In July 2001, on the Veteran’s first jump at Fort Bragg, his main chute was twisted and did not successfully deploy. The Veteran explained that fortunately he landed on another paratrooper’s parachute while in the air. He rolled off the other paratrooper’s parachute and successfully deployed his reserve parachute. The Veteran stated a normal airborne landing is similar to jumping from a ten-foot platform and landing at ten miles per hour; he indicated his landing was harder and from that day on his back and knees have hurt. The Veteran noted that the jump also messed with his mindset. He said he spoke to his first sergeant about pulling his airborne wings. However, instead of giving up his airborne wings, the Veteran continued to jump. According to the Veteran, he pushed back pain and anxiety attacks and he did not report concerns to medical because he was an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper. He cited a mentality of “Suck it up and drive on.” A fellow paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division submitted a statement corroborating the Veteran’s account of the Veteran’s first jump at Fort Bragg. The paratrooper indicated during the July 2001 battalion jump the winds were strong. The paratrooper stated the Veteran had some issues with his parachute deploying correctly, which resulted in a hard landing that knocked the Veteran out. The paratrooper stated that after they got the Veteran up and moving again the Veteran continued with the training. The paratrooper shared that this was not the right decision, but that they often were too proud to ask for help and they feared repercussions from leadership who would accuse them of trying to get out of work. The paratrooper indicated they did not report injuries. The Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) are silent as to any injuries during his time in service. However, his service personnel records (SPRs) confirm he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg in 2001. The Veteran earned the Army’s Parachutist Badge and one of his two Army Commendation Medals note over two dozen airborne operations. Moreover, he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge during combat service in Iraq. The Veteran submitted post-service private treatment records. A record from July 2007 notes that the Veteran’s lumbar x-ray reveals hypolordosis and thin 4L and 5L disc space, possibly due to the force of jumping and landing. An August 2008 record states the Veteran is receiving chiropractic care for his back and that the chiropractor indicates the Veteran’s pain may be attributable to the Veteran’s time in the service. The Veteran’s chiropractor submitted a private treatment record that is illegible. The parties to the August 2020 Joint Motion agreed to vacate the earlier Board’s decision and remand the matter so that the VA may obtain a legible copy of the illegible treatment note from Honeycutt Chiropractic Clinic, in accordance with the duty to assist. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A. There is no evidence the Veteran was notified of the illegibility of the treatment note during the prior proceedings. Additionally, the parties agreed that vacatur and remand were warranted for the Board to provide an adequate statement of reasons for its assignment of probative value to the August 2014 VA examination. The VA examiner found nothing in the record indicating that the current disorder was caused during service, despite multiple references in the record to the Veteran’s bad landing during a parachute jump in service. Therefore, a remand is warranted to obtain a legible copy of the illegible Honeycutt Chiropractic Clinic treatment note submitted to the VA in March 2015, or otherwise obtain the information contained therein. Once the record is supplemented with the Veteran’s chiropractic record, the Veteran should be afforded another VA examination on remand. This claim is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain a legible copy of the Honeycutt Chiropractic Clinic treatment note submitted to the VA in March 2015, or otherwise obtain the information contained therein. 2. After completing the records development indicated above, arrange for the relevant information in the claims file to be forwarded to a qualified examiner for an opinion addressing the claimed lumbar spine disorder. The need for an in-person examination should be determined by the appointed examiner. Based on the examination results, the examiner is asked to provide an expert medical opinion on each of the following questions: (a) Provide a current diagnosis for any and all low back disorders found. (b) For each diagnosed disorder, is it at least as likely as not (i.e., at least equally probable) that the disorder had its onset directly during the Veteran’s service or is otherwise causally related to any event or circumstance of his service? (c) In answering question (b), the examiner is asked to consider and address the Veteran’s lay assertions regarding the nature, onset, and continuity of low back symptoms and the lay statement of his fellow paratrooper, as well as his combat service in Iraq. The examiner should also consider the Veteran’s chiropractor’s opinion and the July 2007 private treatment record attributing the Veteran’s hypolordosis and thin 4L and 5L disc space potentially to the compression forces of jumping and landing. (d) In answering these questions (a) to (c), please articulate the reasons underpinning all conclusions. That is, (1) identify what facts and information, whether found in the record or outside the record, support your opinion, and (2) explain how that evidence justifies your opinion. RYAN T. KESSEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M.L. Thomas 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.