Citation Nr: 21014554 Decision Date: 03/15/21 Archive Date: 03/15/21 DOCKET NO. 17-17 645 DATE: March 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected residuals of fracture, fifth metacarpal, left hand on an extraschedular basis is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from June 1981 to July 1981 and in the Texas National Guard from October 1979 to October 1982. In October 2013 the VA received the Veteran’s original claim for compensation for a left-hand injury. In a March 2015 rating decision, the Regional Office (RO) service connected the left-hand injury at 0 percent disability with an effective date matching the date of the original claim in October 2013. The Veteran timely appealed the decision in May 2015, a statement of the case (SOC) was issued in October 2016, and the Veteran timely perfected his appeal in March 2017. The Veteran gave testimony about his left-hand disability before the undersigned Veteran’s Law Judge in January 2021. The hearing transcript has been associated with the claims file. Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected residuals of fracture, fifth metacarpal, left hand on an extraschedular basis is remanded. The Veteran’s most recent VA examination for his left-hand disability was in January 2015. Unfortunately, there are few medical records with respect to the Veteran’s left-hand condition between the 2015 VA examination and the present. At his January 2021 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that since that examination his old fracture is currently causing his entire hand to give him issues. Thus, the Veteran’s testimony suggests that his service-connected left-hand condition has worsened over the six years since his last VA examination. Therefore, to ensure that the record reflects the current severity of the Veteran’s condition, a more contemporaneous examination, with findings responsive to the applicable rating criteria, is needed to properly evaluate the Veteran’s service-connected left-hand disability. Allday v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 517, 526 (1995). The examination conducted pursuant to this remand should include a review of the Veteran's claims file and past clinical history, with particular attention to the current severity of his service-connected left-hand injury, as well as any significant pertinent interval medical history since his last VA examination in January 2015. On remand, the Veteran should be afforded a new VA examination of his service-connected left-hand disability. Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is required in this case to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the issue of an extraschedular compensable rating for a left-hand disability, so that the Veteran is afforded every possible consideration. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Request that the Veteran submit all relevant private mental health treatment records or a release form to allow the VA to obtain those records on his behalf. If the Veteran submits a completed release form, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) should undertake all reasonable efforts to obtain the records and notify the Veteran if any identified records are unavailable. 2. Arrange for the Veteran to undergo a VA examination to evaluate the nature and severity his service-connected left-hand disability. The examiner is asked to review all relevant records and conduct a clinical evaluation. Based on this review, the examiner is asked to provide an assessment of the current nature of the Veteran’s disabilities. The examiner should consider whether there is likely to be additional range of motion (ROM) loss due to any of the following: (1) during flare-ups; and, (2) as a result of pain, weakness, fatigability, or incoordination. If so, the examiner is asked to describe the additional loss, in degrees, if possible. A thorough rationale should be provided for all opinions expressed. If any requested medical opinion cannot be given, the examiner should state the reason(s) why. H. SEESEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Black, 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.