Citation Nr: 21023549 Decision Date: 04/20/21 Archive Date: 04/20/21 DOCKET NO. 15-16 587 DATE: April 20, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a disability rating exceeding 30 percent for psychiatric disorders for the period prior to January 6, 2015. Entitlement to a disability rating exceeding 70 percent for psychiatric disorders for the period beginning January 6, 2015. Entitlement to a disability rating exceeding 40 percent for a lumbar spine disability. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to January 6, 2015. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1997 to July 1999. This appeal comes before the Board from August 2013 and March 2015 rating decisions. The Board remanded these matters in February 2019 for additional evidentiary development. The Veteran’s representative noted in a January 2019 Informal Hearing Presentation that the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability has worsened since his January 2015 VA back examination. Pursuant to the remand order, VA obtained additional Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits application records as well as additional VA treatment records. The records contain indications that the Veteran’s lumbar spine and mental disabilities have worsened since the time of the Veteran’s VA examinations in 2015. Therefore, VA should afford the Veteran current examinations of the severity of the Veteran’s disabilities before readjudicating the claims. VA should also adjudicate the issue of entitlement to TDIU prior to January 6, 2015 as the Veteran raised the issue in association with his other claims on appeal and noted he became unable to work in November 2011. Accordingly, the Board REMANDS for the following actions: 1. VA should contact the Veteran and request his assistance in identifying any outstanding relevant records. VA should obtain such records and add them to the file. 2. After associating all outstanding relevant records with the Veteran’s claims file, VA should obtain an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. In so doing, the examiner must test the Veteran’s active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. In so doing, the examiner must also attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement based on direct observation, the examiner should provide an estimate, if at all possible, of the additional impairment due to flare-ups based on the other evidence of record and the Veteran’s statements. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement without speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge, a deficiency in the record, or the examiner. 3. After associating all outstanding relevant records with the Veteran’s claims file, VA should also schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected mental disabilities. 4. After completing the above action and any other necessary development, the claims must be readjudicated including the claim for TDIU prior to January 6, 2015. If a claim remains denied, a Supplemental Statement of the Case must be provided to the Veteran and current representatives. After the Veteran has had adequate opportunity to respond, the appeal must be returned to the Board for appellate review. Michael Duffy Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Adams Hill, 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.