Citation Nr: 21029211 Decision Date: 05/12/21 Archive Date: 05/12/21 DOCKET NO. 14-10 536 DATE: May 12, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for hammer toes, right foot, to include as secondary to service-connected hallux valgus, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for hammer toes, left foot, to include as secondary to service-connected hallux valgus, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran, the appellant in this matter, served on active duty from November 1982 to June 1994. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2012 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran's claim for right and left hammer toes was initially remanded by the Board in March 2018. In April 2020, the Board denied service connection for bilateral hammer toes and claims for increased rating of bilateral hallux valgus. The Veteran appealed only the April 2020 Board decision denying service connection for bilateral hammer toes to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The Board's denial of the increased rating claim for bilateral hallux valgus was not appealed and remained undisturbed. In December 2020, the Veteran's representative and the VA General Counsel filed a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), as the parties agreed that the Board erred when it relied on the February 2012 and December 2019 VA medical opinions to deny the service connection claims for bilateral hammer toes. Specifically, both VA examinations failed to provide an opinion as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hammer toes were aggravated by his service-connected bilateral hallux valgus. See El-Amin v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 136, 140 (2013). In January 2021, the Court granted the motion and remanded to the Board for actions consistent with the JMPR. As such, the service connection claims are remanded for an adequate medical opinion consistent with the December 2020 JMPR. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ensure all outstanding VA treatment records are associated with the file. 2. Thereafter, forward the Veteran's claim file to the clinician who conducted December 2019 medical opinion, if available, for the purpose of obtaining an addendum medical opinion as to the nature and etiology of the Veteran's bilateral hammer toes. The claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to the examiner for review, and the examiner must specifically acknowledge receipt and review of these materials in any reports generated. The need for another VA examination is at the discretion of the examiner. After a review of the claims file, the examiner is asked to respond to the following: (a) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's bilateral hammer toes were aggravated (i.e., worsened beyond its natural progression) by his service-connected bilateral hallux valgus. (b) In doing so, the examiner should address (i) the lay statement of the Veteran within the March 2014 VA Form 9, which stated that the hammer toes were related to foot surgery; (ii) the April 1997, July 1997, June 2008, December 2010 and April 2015 x-ray reports finding post-surgical changes in her feet; and (iii), the May 2019 medical opinion from a private podiatrist, Dr. S.M.M. *Note: any amount of aggravation is sufficient to establish secondary service connection and permanent aggravation/worsening of a non- service-connected disability is not required. Ward v. Wilkie, 31 Vet. App. 233 (2019). The examiner should provide a complete rationale for each opinion. 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the remanded service connection claims. S. B. MAYS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Moldawer, 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.