Citation Nr: 21022255 Decision Date: 04/15/21 Archive Date: 04/15/21 DOCKET NO. 15-41 727 DATE: April 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent prior to January 10, 2014, and a rating in excess of 30 percent from August 1, 2014, for a service-connected left shoulder injury, status-post arthroscopic repair with degenerative arthritis (a left shoulder disability), exclusive of the period from January 10, 2014, to July 31, 2014, during which a temporary total rating was in place, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1976 to February 1978. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from rating decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). It was previously before the Board in May 2019, where it was remanded for additional development. The Veteran testified at a video-conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in May 2019. While the Board sincerely regrets further delay, the appeal must once again be remanded. The Veteran asserted in his hearing before the undersigned that his left shoulder disability had worsened since his last VA examination to evaluate this disability in September 2014. He specifically described possible muscular and neurological impairments – pain and burning that travels down his left arm and weakens his grip. Thus, the matter was remanded by the Board in May 2019 for a new VA examination, and a VA Shoulder and Arm Conditions examination was provided in October 2019. However, while the examination noted reduced muscle strength in the Veteran’s left upper extremity and his report of possible nerve impairment, the examination did not address in any further detail whether these symptoms were residuals of his service-connected left shoulder disability as ordered in the Board’s previous remand, nor was any additional examination afforded to determine their nature and severity, such as Peripheral Nerves Conditions or Muscle Injuries examinations. As such, the Board finds that the October 2019 VA Examination did not substantially comply with the May 2019 remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998) (a remand confers upon the claimant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand directives); Dyment v. West, 13 Vet. App. 141, 146-47 (1999) (noting that Stegall requires substantial compliance with remand orders, rather than absolute compliance). The matter is therefore REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify any outstanding treatment records relevant to his left shoulder claim. All identified VA records should be added to the claims file, to include records dated since April 2020. All other properly identified records should be obtained if the necessary authorization to obtain the records is provided by the Veteran. If any records are not available, or the Veteran identifies sources of treatment but does not provide authorization to obtain records, appropriate action should be taken (see 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)-(e)), to include notifying the Veteran of the unavailability of the records. 2. After records development is completed, schedule the Veteran for appropriate VA examinations to determine the current symptoms, level of severity, and functional impairment associated with his service-connected left shoulder disability, to include (but not limited to) Peripheral Nerves Conditions and Muscle Injuries examinations. The examiner should identify and describe in detail all residuals attributable to the Veteran’s service-connected left shoulder disorder, to include any orthopedic, neurological and muscle impairment. In so doing, the examiner should acknowledge and consider the Veteran’s assertions that his left shoulder disability is manifested by limited motion of the shoulder, as well as by muscular and neurological impairment in his left upper extremity (i.e., pain and burning that travels down his arm and weakens his grip). P.M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Scarduzio, 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.