Citation Nr: 21011913 Decision Date: 03/03/21 Archive Date: 03/03/21 DOCKET NO. 15-20 319 DATE: March 3, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from October 1984 to July 1988. In November 2019, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board), in pertinent part, denied the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability. The Veteran timely appealed this denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Court”). The Court granted an October 2020 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (“JMPR”), vacated the Board’s November 2019 decision, and remanded the matter for actions consistent with the terms of the JMPR. Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. In the October 2020 JMPR, the parties before the Court agreed that the Board failed to satisfy the duty to assist. Specifically, the Board relied on a February 2014 medical opinion which did not contain adequate rationale, as it provided no basis for the determination that the Veteran’s documented in-service injuries could not cause the current lumbar spine disability and inappropriately relied on the passage of time to discount the possibility that the Veteran’s in-service injuries caused his current disability, without due consideration of his report that his back pain had continued since service and his explanation for why no contemporaneous treatment records are available. On remand, a new medical opinion must be obtained which provides adequate rationale for its conclusions and addresses the Veteran’s lay statements that his back pain continued since service and his explanation for the lack of treatment records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Veteran and request that he provide information as to any outstanding non-VA medical records pertaining to his lumbar spine disability. 2. Obtain relevant outstanding VA treatment records pertaining to the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability. 3. After the above development is completed, obtain an addendum opinion regarding the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability from an appropriate VA clinician. Make a copy of this remand and the claims file available to the examiner for review. The clinician is asked to review the case and note that this review took place. The need for an examination is left to the discretion of the clinician selected to write the addendum opinion. The examiner is asked to determine whether the Veteran’s current lumbar spine disability is at least as likely as not related to service, to include the documented in-service complaints of back pain. The addendum must include a complete rationale for all opinions expressed with due consideration of the Veteran’s lay statements concerning continuity of symptomatology since service and his explanation regarding lack of contemporaneous treatment records. If the examiner feels that a requested opinion cannot be rendered without resorting to speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is caused by a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (i.e., no one could respond given medical science and the known facts) or by a deficiency in the record or the examiner (i.e., additional facts are required, or the examiner does not have the needed knowledge or training). 4. After completing the above, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraphs, the Veteran's claim should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. If any benefit sought remains denied, furnish the Veteran and his representative a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) and return the case to the Board. JENNIFER HWA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board L. Bush 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.