Citation Nr: 21027368 Decision Date: 05/05/21 Archive Date: 05/05/21 DOCKET NO. 14-30 428 DATE: May 5, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to January 29, 2018 and in excess of 30 percent thereafter for right knee instability is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to January 29, 2018 and in excess of 30 percent thereafter for left knee instability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from October 1997 to June 2009, from April 2013 to September 2013, from January 2014 to September 2014, from November 2014 to September 2015, and from August 2017 to January 2018. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in a January 2019 hearing. This matter was remanded by the Board in May 2019 for additional development. Remand is required for RO consideration and issuance of a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC). Since the August 2020 statement of the case (SOC), additional VA medical records have been associated with the claims file without an SSOC or a waiver of Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) review. In a letter dated in January 2021, the Veteran and his representative were notified that additional evidence had been received by the Board that had not previously been considered by the AOJ. The letter provided him with 45 days to indicate whether he wished to have the AOJ initially review the evidence or if he waived her right to have such initial AOJ review. The letter informed him that if a response was not received, the Board would remand the case to the AOJ for its initial review of the new evidence. In a February 2021 response, the Veteran requested that the appeal be remanded for the AOJ to review the new evidence. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the appropriate VA Medical Center and obtain and associate with the claims file all outstanding records of treatment on and after August 13, 2020. If any requested records are not available, or the search for any such records otherwise yields negative results, that fact must clearly be documented in the claims file. Efforts to obtain these records must continue until it is determined that they do not exist or that further attempts to obtain them would be futile. The non-existence or unavailability of such records must be verified and this should be documented for the record. Required notice must be provided to the Veteran and the representative. 2. Contact the Veteran and afford her the opportunity to identify by name, address and dates of treatment or examination any relevant medical records. Subsequently, and after securing the proper authorizations where necessary, make arrangements to obtain all the records of treatment or examination from all the sources listed by the Veteran which are not already on file. All information obtained must be made part of the file. All attempts to secure this evidence must be documented in the claims file, and if, after making reasonable efforts to obtain named records, they are not able to be secured, provide the required notice and opportunity to respond to the Veteran and the representative. 3. After completing the above action, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the paragraphs above, the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for the right and left knee disabilities must be readjudicated. A supplemental statement of the case must be provided to the Veteran and his representative. K. MILLIKAN Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Dworkin, 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.