Citation Nr: 21029064 Decision Date: 05/12/21 Archive Date: 05/12/21 DOCKET NO. 16-63 879 DATE: May 12, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic degenerative changes of the right knee with medial tibial stress syndrome and patellofemoral chondromalacia (right knee disability) prior to May 17, 2016 (excluding a period of temporary total rating from March 5, 2014 to April 30, 2014) is remanded. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic degenerative changes of the left knee with medial tibial stress syndrome and patellofemoral chondromalacia (left knee disability) prior to July 19, 2016 (excluding a period of temporary total rating from May 10, 2013 to July 31, 2013) is remanded. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for right total knee replacement from July 1, 2017 is remanded. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for left total knee replacement from September 1, 2017 is remanded. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbosacral strain is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from June 1971 to September 1972 and in the United States Army from January 1982 to September 1992. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In March 2020, the Veteran testified at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge, sitting in St. Louis, Missouri. A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the record. This case was previously before the Board in May 2020, when it was remanded to the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) for additional development. In August 2020, after taking further action, the AOJ granted temporary total ratings for the left knee from May 10, 2013 to July 31, 2013 and for the right knee from March 5, 2014 to April 30, 2014. The August 2020 rating decision also granted a temporary total rating from May 17, 2016 to June 30, 2017, assigned a 30 percent rating thereafter, and recharacterized the right knee disability as right total knee replacement. The decision further granted a temporary total rating from July 19, 2016 to August 31, 2017, assigned a 30 percent rating thereafter, and recharacterized the left knee disability as left total knee replacement. The prior ratings were otherwise confirmed and continued, and the case was returned to the Board. In the August 2020 rating decision, the AOJ also granted service connection for radiculopathy of the lower extremities as secondary to the service-connected low back disability and for surgical scars of the knees. Inasmuch as the Veteran has not expressed disagreement with the ratings or effective dates assigned for those awards, those matters are not before the Board on appeal. REASONS FOR REMAND 1. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic degenerative changes of the right knee with medial tibial stress syndrome and patellofemoral chondromalacia prior to May 17, 2016 is remanded. 2. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic degenerative changes of the left knee with medial tibial stress syndrome and patellofemoral chondromalacia prior to July 19, 2016 is remanded. 3. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for service-connected right total knee replacement from July 1, 2017 is remanded. 4. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for service-connected left total knee replacement from September 1, 2017 is remanded. 5. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbosacral strain is remanded. Although the Board sincerely regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran's claims and to afford him every possible consideration. The record reflects that there are outstanding records potentially relevant to the issues on appeal. Specifically, VA treatment records reflect that private treatment records from Mercy Hospital, Fitness 4 Life Physical Therapy, Illinois Home Health, Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers, and Barnes Jewish Hospital have been scanned into VistA Imaging. These records, which are in VA's possession, must be obtained for association with the claims file prior to final adjudication. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c); Sullivan v. McDonald, 815 F.3d 786, 793 (Fed. Cir. 2016). These matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Associate with the record copies of any potentially relevant reports of private treatment that have been scanned into VistA Imaging, to specifically include records from Mercy Hospital, Fitness 4 Life Physical Therapy, Illinois Home Health, Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers, and Barnes Jewish Hospital. 2. After completing the above, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraph, the issues on appeal should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. If any benefit sought remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be issued a supplemental statement of the case. Allow an appropriate period of time for response. DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Kettler, 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.