Citation Nr: 21014192 Decision Date: 03/11/21 Archive Date: 03/11/21 DOCKET NO. 12-28 324 DATE: March 11, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a low back injury is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1965 to September 1968. In March 2018, he testified at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the proceeding is in the record. Despite numerous remands by the Board, most recently in December 2020, to obtain an adequate VA examiner’s opinion on the etiology of his claimed low back disability, there has not been substantial compliance with the remand directives and another remand is required. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The Veteran’s representative argues that the medical opinion on remand is inadequate; the Board agrees. Specifically, the December 2020 VA examiner’s opinion is inadequate because it yet again is based exclusively on the absence of service treatment records showing complaints or treatment of low back pain despite the Veteran’s specific assertions that he refused to seek medical treatment at the time because he wanted to continue working as a paratrooper. Further, the August 2020 addendum opinion was not prepared by a VA orthopedic surgeon. Remand is needed for a more thorough addendum opinion from a VA orthopedic surgeon – not the examiner who wrote the previous opinions in August 2020 and December 2020 – on this issue. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain an addendum opinion from a VA orthopedic surgeon – not the examiner who wrote the previous opinions in August 2020 and December 2020 – concerning the nature and likely etiology of the Veteran’s low back condition. The claims folder should be made available to the examiner for review. Following a review of the record, the examiner is requested to address the following questions: (a.) Please identify all diagnoses related to the Veteran’s complaints of back problems. (b.) Is it at least as likely as not (i.e., probability of 50 percent or greater) that any diagnosed back condition had its onset in service or is otherwise related to active duty service, to include the Veteran’s reports of experiencing back problems due to airborne training? The examiner is asked to specifically comment on the significance of a June 2017 VA primary care physician note documenting the Veteran’s history of degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine stemming from repeated stresses from a history of bull riding and being a paratrooper. A full rationale is to be provided for all stated medical opinions. If the examiner concludes that the requested opinion cannot be provided without resort to speculation, the examiner should so state and explain why this opinion would be speculative and what, if any, additional evidence would permit such an opinion to be made. 2. Following completion of the above directive, please review the examiner’s opinion to ensure that it actually complies with this remand and the questions presented in this request. If the report is insufficient, it must be returned to the examiner for necessary corrective action, as appropriate. M. E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Jack S. Komperda, 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.