Citation Nr: 21022932 Decision Date: 04/19/21 Archive Date: 04/19/21 DOCKET NO. 10-33 248 DATE: April 19, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition, including degenerative joint disease (DJD) is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder condition, including degenerative joint disease (DJD) and bursitis is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1973 to August 1976. In March 2019, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before a Veterans Law Judge who is no longer employed at the Board. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the claims file and had been reviewed. In March 2021, he was offered the opportunity for an additional hearing; however, he failed to respond within the allotted time period. In August 2019, as pertinent here, the Board denied the Veteran’s service connection claims for left knee and left shoulder disabilities. The Veteran timely appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) and by an August 2020 Order, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) that vacated and remanded the Board’s denial of these claims. The JMPR found that the Board erred in relying on an inadequate January 2009 examination report and should have made reasonable attempts to locate VAMC records from 1985 to 1986. Accordingly, the Board remands the appeal in compliance with the finding of the August 2020 JMPR. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ensure that all outstanding VA treatment records are associated with the claims file, to specifically include records dated 1985 to 1986 from the VAMC/VA hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. 2. After the above development is completed, provide the Veteran with a new VA examination to help determine the likely etiology of the claimed left knee and left shoulder disabilities. The claims file and a copy of this remand will be made available to the examiner, who will acknowledge receipt and review of these materials. After a review of the record and examination of the Veteran, the examiner is asked to respond to the following: (a) Identify all currently diagnosed left knee and left shoulder disabilities. (b) Elicit from the Veteran and the record the history of symptoms associated with the claimed disabilities during service and since separation from service. (c) For each currently diagnosed left knee and/or left shoulder disability, provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or higher probability) that it had its onset during service or is otherwise related to it. **If the examiner determines that a diagnosed disability is not related to service, he/she is asked to explain why the Veteran’s work type after service (as opposed to the Veteran’s competent assertions of in-service left shoulder pain and an in-service left knee injury) caused the currently diagnosed disabilities. Specifically, the examiner must provide a medical explanation if such conclusion is reached. Please note: lack of contemporaneous medical records does not serve as an “absolute bar” to the service connection claim and cannot be used as a rationale in explaining why the current disability is not related to service. A complete rationale should be provided for all opinions. 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the remanded claims. S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Yaffe, 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.