Citation Nr: 21008066 Decision Date: 02/11/21 Archive Date: 02/11/21 DOCKET NO. 13-32 777 DATE: February 11, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a joint disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1962 to January 1966. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2012 rating decision. This matter was previously before the Board in March 2018 and August 2019, when it was remanded for additional development. The Board notes that the Board denied claims for service connection for kidney stones and diabetes mellitus, type II, in August 2019. The Veteran appealed these denials to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), which vacated and remanded these claims pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) in October 2020. These matters will be addressed in a separate decision. In the Board’s August 2019 remand of the issue of service connection for a joint disorder, which the Veteran claims is the result of dengue fever contracted during active service while stationed in Puerto Rico, the Board directed the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) to request all inpatient treatment records for the Veteran from the Air Force Hospital at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico for the years 1962 and 1963, the time when the Veteran served there and claims to have contracted dengue fever. Following additional attempts to obtain these records, responses from the relevant record repositories indicated no additional records were available. The AOJ determined any further attempts would be futile, documenting such in a deferred rating and letter to the Veteran in August 2020. Based on this, the Board finds the AOJ has substantially complied with the remand directives in the August 2019 remand. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). In response to the letter from the AOJ, the Veteran submitted a statement from another veteran, D.G.M., who served with him in Puerto Rico. In this statement submitted in August 2020, D.G.M. states that the Veteran was a friend of his during service and sometime between September 1962 and September 1964, the Veteran was very ill and in the hospital for some time. He further indicates the Veteran lost significant weight and almost died as a result of his illness, though he was not sure of the name of the disease. VA is required to obtain a medical opinion when the record contains competent evidence that the claimant has a current disability or signs and symptoms of a current disability; the record indicates that the disability or signs and symptoms of disability may be associated with active service; and the record does not contain sufficient information to make a decision on the claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(d); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006). In this case, the Veteran’s medical records do not contain a formal diagnosis of a joint disorder tied to dengue fever; however, these records show he has documented joint pain and arthritis affecting his spine and knees. While there is no medical evidence of the Veteran’s diagnosis of dengue fever during service, he has submitted corroborating lay evidence from another veteran who served with him indicating that he was hospitalized for an extended period during service with a serious illness. As there is no medical opinion addressing the Veteran’s contentions on these matters, the Board finds a remand is necessary to obtain a medical opinion that addresses whether the Veteran has a current joint disorder that may be associated with his illness during service. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Obtain a medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of any joint disorder. The Veteran should only be scheduled for an examination if deemed necessary by the selected examiner. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including the illness the Veteran has described during his period of active service, claimed as dengue fever. The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history, and such reports must be specifically acknowledged and considered in formulating any opinion. If the examiner rejects the Veteran’s reports, he or she must provide a reason for doing so. The fact that his report of symptoms is not corroborated by contemporaneous medical treatment records is not, by itself, a sufficient reason to reject the Veteran’s report of symptoms capable of lay observation. (Continued on the next page)   The examiner is further advised that it is not necessary for pain to attributable to a specific diagnosis or pathology to be considered a service-connected disability so long as the pain is productive of functional impairment. The examiner’s report must include a complete rationale for the opinion. M. HYLAND Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Pitman, 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.