Citation Nr: 21025163 Decision Date: 04/27/21 Archive Date: 04/27/21 DOCKET NO. 15-06 586A DATE: April 27, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service-connection for a lower right extremity condition is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from June 1968 to June 1973. Military personnel records confirm his service in Vietnam. Exposure to Agent Orange is conceded. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a September 2012 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This matter was previously before the Board in June 2019, where it was remanded for further development. There has not been substantial compliance with the Board remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Unfortunately, another remand is necessary in this case. The Veteran initially maintained that he suffered from radiculopathy secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability. He submitted multiple records from private medical providers indicating that he had been diagnosed with lower right extremity radiculopathy. However, a VA examiner in January 2020 disputed this characterization and found that diagnostic testing did not show objective evidence of radiculopathy. Instead, the examiner posited that the Veteran was suffering from a sensory neuropathy condition. Further testing in October 2020 resulted in a diagnosis of symmetric sensorimotor peripheral polyneuropathy. The Board finds it necessary to remand this matter to afford the Veteran a new VA examination to clarify all diagnoses related to his claimed right lower extremity condition. The examiner must then provide an opinion on whether any diagnosed condition is either directly related to the Veteran’s active duty service, to include his conceded Agent Orange exposure, or whether any diagnosed condition was secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed right lower extremity condition, most recently diagnosed as sensorimotor peripheral polyneuropathy. The selected VA clinician should be provided with the Veteran’s claims folder. Following a review of the relevant medical evidence and examination of the Veteran, the examiner is asked to address the following questions: (a) Please identify all diagnoses related to the Veteran’s right lower extremity condition during the appeal. (b) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any diagnosed condition identified in (a), to include right lower extremity sensorimotor peripheral polyneuropathy, had its onset in or is otherwise related to active duty service, to include conceded Agent Orange exposure? (c) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any diagnosed condition identified in (a), to include right lower extremity sensorimotor peripheral polyneuropathy, was caused or aggravated by his service-connected herniated lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative disc disease? In addressing the above questions, the examiner must consider and discuss medical records reflecting complaints of pain, numbness, and sensory deficits in the Veteran’s lower right extremity as early as 1982. The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history, and such reports must be specifically acknowledged and considered in formulating any opinion. If the examiner rejects the Veteran’s reports, he or she must provide a reason for doing so. The Veteran’s report of symptoms capable of lay observation may not be disregarded solely on the basis that they are not recorded in contemporaneous medical treatment records.  All findings must be reported in detail and all opinions must be accompanied by a well-reasoned rationale. If any opinion cannot be resolved without resorting to speculation, the examiner must explain why this is so. J. KOMPERDA Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Narnor, Harriyah 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.