Citation Nr: 21025603 Decision Date: 04/28/21 Archive Date: 04/28/21 DOCKET NO. 13-25 507A DATE: April 28, 2021 REMANDED The claim of entitlement to higher initial disability ratings for right knee disability is remanded. The claim of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to March 25, 2013 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from October 1994 to October 1998. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The claims on appeal have been subject to multiple actions by the Board and by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). Most recently, in October 2020, the Board remanded this matter for additional medical inquiry. The inquiry related to a June 2019 Court Order issued pursuant to a May 2019 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) by the parties to this matter. The case is again before the Board for appellate review. Another remand is warranted for issuance of an addendum medical opinion addressing the claims. In November and December 2020, retrospective opinions addressing the level of disability in the right knee prior to 2013 were included in the claims file. An addendum opinion should be sought because the opinions are not entirely responsive to the JMPR and the Board’s October 2020 remand inquiries. The claim for a TDIU prior to March 2013 must be remanded as well because it is intertwined with the increased rating claim. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Obtain a retrospective medical opinion from an orthopedic physician. After reviewing the claims file, the physician should comment on the following. Provide a retrospective medical opinion, as best as can be ascertained from the Veteran’s self-reports as well as from clinical records and other evidence, including VA examination reports, estimating the additional degrees of limited motion in the Veteran’s right knee, if any, caused by functional loss during flare-ups or after repeated use over time for the time period prior to September 5, 2013. The VA examiner is also requested to estimate right knee range of motion measurements for active motion and passive motion and in both weightbearing and nonweightbearing circumstances, for the time period prior to September 5, 2013. Specific range of motion measurements must be provided. If the VA examiner is unable to provide the necessary retrospective opinion, the VA examiner must offer a thorough rationale explaining why such an opinion could not be provided. In so doing, the examiner should explain whether the inability to provide an opinion is the result of a need for additional information or that he or she has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to the Board’s inquiries. If a retrospective medical opinion can be provided, it must be explained in detail and supported by a complete rationale based on the examiner’s medical expertise, the examiner’s clinical experience, current medical principles, and citations to the record, as appropriate. C. J. McEntee Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Denton, Buck 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.