Citation Nr: 21024137 Decision Date: 04/22/21 Archive Date: 04/22/21 DOCKET NO. 17-61 354 DATE: April 22, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for left knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right knee disability is denied. Entitlement to service connection for left ankle disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right ankle disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1969 to June 1971. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 Regional Office (RO) rating decision. In that rating decision, the RO denied entitlement to service connection for left knee condition, right knee condition, left ankle injury, and right ankle injury. The Veteran’s notice of disagreement (NOD) was received in March 2015. The RO issued a statement of the case (SOC) in October 2017. The Veteran’s VA Form 9, substantive appeal to the Board, was received in November 2017, In September 2020, the Veteran testified at a virtual Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the testimony is associated with the claims file. 1. Entitlement to service connection for left knee disability. 2. Entitlement to service connection for right knee disability 3. Entitlement to service connection for left ankle disability. 4. Entitlement to service connection for right ankle disability. With respect to the Veteran’s service connection claims for bilateral knee and bilateral ankle disabilities, the Veteran contends that he has experienced bilateral knee and bilateral ankle pain since active military service to the present. The Veteran asserts that his bilateral knee and bilateral ankle disabilities are due to repeated parachute jumps during active military service. He testified at the September 2020 Board hearing that he did over 42 parachute jumps during service. When he complained of knee and ankle pain to his first Sergeant during service, he was told to “suck it up.” The Veteran testified that he sought treatment for his bilateral knee and bilateral ankle pain from a private physician within a year after discharge from active duty service. The Veteran’s DD 214 shows that the Veteran is in receipt of the parachute badge. The Veteran was provided with a VA examination and medical opinion of the knees and ankles in April 2014. The examiner determined that the Veteran’s knee condition is not at least as likely as not related to the Veteran’s parachute jumps while on active duty in the Army. She explained that there are no medical treatment records of bilateral knee condition in service treatment records. Normal examination of the knees in the entrance examination dated in April 1971 and the medical examination dated in May 1977. The examiner also determined that the Veteran’s ankle condition is not at least as likely as not related to the Veteran’s parachute jumps while on active duty in the Army. She explained that there are no medical treatment records of bilateral ankle condition in service treatment records. Normal examination of the ankles in the entrance examination dated in April 1971 and the medical examination dated in May 1977. The Board finds that this medical opinion is incomplete as the examiner did not address the Veteran’s lay statements as to the onset of his bilateral knee and bilateral ankle symptoms and the continuous nature of such symptoms from active duty to present. Furthermore, the examiner appears to have overlooked a March 1970 service treatment record that documented that the Veteran injured his left ankle and he was diagnosed with left ankle sprain. Thus, the Veteran should be provided with a new VA examination and medical opinion. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Arrange for the Veteran to undergo a VA orthopedic examination to evaluate the current nature and likely etiology of any right and/or left knee disabilities. The contents of the entire, electronic claims file to include a complete copy of this REMAND, must be made available to the examiner, and the report should reflect full consideration of the Veteran’s documented medical history and lay assertions. All indicated evaluations, studies, and tests deemed necessary by the examiner should be accomplished. After reviewing all pertinent records associated with the claims file and conducting an evaluation of the Veteran, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent or greater probability) that any right and/or left knee disability found on examination or documented in the claims file to include degenerative joint disease of the knee had its onset during service or is otherwise at least in part related to active service-to include physical trauma associated with hard landings during approximately 42 parachute jumps. In rendering the requested opinions, the examiner must consider and discuss all in and post-service medical and other objective evidence, as well as all lay assertions, to include the Veteran’s competent assertions as to in-service events, as well as the nature, onset, and continuity of symptoms. The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history. Thus, competent lay assertions in this regard must be considered in formulating the requested opinions. If lay assertions in any regard are discounted, the examiner should clearly so state, and explain why. 2. Arrange for the Veteran to undergo a VA orthopedic examination to evaluate the current nature and likely etiology of any current right and/or left ankle disabilities. The contents of the entire, electronic claims file to include a complete copy of this REMAND, must be made available to the examiner, and the report should reflect full consideration of the Veteran’s documented medical history and lay assertions. All indicated evaluations, studies, and tests deemed necessary by the examiner should be accomplished. After reviewing all pertinent records associated with the claims file and conducting an evaluation of the Veteran, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent or greater probability) that any bilateral ankle disability found on examination or documented in the claims file to include bilateral ankle strain had its onset during service or is otherwise at least in part related to service-to include physical trauma associated with hard landings during multiple parachute jumps and the left ankle injury documented in the March 1970 service treatment record. In rendering the requested opinion, the examiner must consider and discuss all in and post-service medical and other objective evidence, as well as all lay assertions, to include the Veteran’s competent assertions as to in-service events, as well as the nature, onset, and continuity of symptoms. The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history. Thus, competent lay assertions in this regard must be considered in formulating the requested opinions. If lay assertions in any regard are discounted, the examiner should clearly so state, and explain why. L. B. CRYAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Berry, 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.