Citation Nr: 21013874 Decision Date: 03/10/21 Archive Date: 03/10/21 DOCKET NO. 15-17 710 DATE: March 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for ununited fracture of the styloid of the left fibula is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from April 1969 to November 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2017 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). A Board hearing was held in June 2018 before a Veterans Law Judge who has since retired. A transcript of that hearing is of record. In September 2020, the Veteran was notified of his opportunity to schedule another Board hearing. In February 2019, the Board denied entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for ununited fracture of the styloid of the left fibula. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The Court granted a November 2019 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (Joint Motion), vacated the February 2019 Board decision and remanded the issue to the Board for readjudication. The claim was previously before the Board in June 2020 when it was remanded for further development. Unfortunately, there has not been substantial compliance with the Board’s previous remand directives. Therefore, another remand is required. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The Veteran was provided a VA examination in December 2020 to assess the severity of his disability. Unfortunately, the VA examination report fails to provide range-of-motion findings in compliance with Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016). While the examiner noted that there was objective evidence of pain when the left ankle was used in non-weight bearing, the examiner provided no explanation for why range-of-motion testing in either weight-bearing or nonweight-bearing modes could not be provided – this despite the Board’s clear request in the June 2020 remand directives to provide such findings. In light of the inadequate findings of the December 2020 VA examination, remand is warranted for a new VA examination with more thorough findings. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of his service-connected fracture, ununited, styloid, left fibula. The record and a copy of this remand must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner. The examination must include all physical and diagnostic testing deemed necessary by the examiner in conjunction with this request. The examiner should report all manifestations related to the Veteran’s service-connected left leg disability. The examiner must address the following: (a.) The examiner should record the results of range-of-motion testing for pain on both active and passive motion and in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing mode for the left leg. If the examiner is unable to conduct the required testing or concludes that the required testing is not necessary in this case, the examiner should clearly explain why that is so. In recording the ranges of motion for the Veteran’s left leg, the examiner should note whether, upon repetitive motion, there is any pain, weakened movement, excess fatigability, or incoordination of movement, and whether there is likely to be additional functional loss due to pain on use, weakened movement, excess fatigability, or incoordination over time. If there is no pain, no limitation of motion, and/or no limitation of function, such facts must be noted in the report. (Continued on the next page)   (b.) The examiner should also express an opinion concerning whether there would be additional functional impairment on repeated use over time or during flare-ups. The examiner should assess the additional functional impairment on repeated use or during flare-ups in terms of the degree of additional range-of-motion loss, if possible. If the Veteran indicates that he is not currently experiencing a flare-up at the time of the examination, the examiner should estimate any additional functional loss during flare-ups or on repeated use, if feasible. If it is not feasible to determine, even by estimation, the extent to which the Veteran experiences additional functional loss on repeated use over time or during flare-ups without resorting to speculation, the examiner must provide an explanation for why this is so. Jack S. Komperda Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S.R. Fey, 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.