Citation Nr: 21029285 Decision Date: 05/13/21 Archive Date: 05/13/21 DOCKET NO. 19-08 565 DATE: May 13, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, as secondary to service-connected internal derangement, left knee, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The most probative evidence of record demonstrates that the Veteran's right knee disability is secondary to his service-connected internal derangement, left knee. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, as secondary to service-connected internal derangement, left knee, have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from June 1987 to December 1990. In January 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability. The Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). Pursuant to a January 2021 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) filed by the parties and a January 2021 Court Order, the Court has remanded the claim back to the Board. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability, as secondary to service-connected internal derangement, left knee. Service connection may also be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is proximately due to or the result of service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a). Establishing service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence sufficient to show: (1) that a current disability exists; and (2) that the current disability was either: (a) proximately caused by; or (b) proximately aggravated by a service-connected disability. Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995) (en banc). A layperson is competent to report on the onset and continuity of his current symptomatology. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (a Veteran is competent to report on that of which he or she has personal knowledge). In determining whether service connection is warranted for a disability, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the Veteran prevailing in either event, or whether a preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). The Veteran contends that he has a right knee disability secondary to his service-connected left knee disability. In his November 2019 statement, he asserted that since developing his service-connected left knee disability, he began to walk unevenly due to pain and began to experience issues with painful motion, swelling, buckling, popping, and weakness in his right knee as well. He reported that he shifted his weight from side to side to mitigate his pain, and he treated his pain with over-the-counter medication. The Veteran is competent to report his right and left knee symptoms; there is no evidence that he is not credible in this regard. Layno, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470. The existence of a current disability is not at issue. The Veteran has been diagnosed with degenerative arthritis of the right knee at the time of his October 2017 Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ). Therefore, the only remaining question is whether the Veteran's right knee disability is proximately caused or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability, such that secondary service connection is warranted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a). In a March 2015 DBQ, the Veteran presented with internal derangement, left knee; no diagnosis was rendered pertaining to the right side, however, the Veteran did complain that his right knee hurt due to favoring the left knee. In the October 2017 DBQ, bilateral degenerative arthritis in the knees was noted. At that time, the examiner opined it was less likely than not the Veteran's right knee arthritis was due to or the result of his service-connected left knee disability. The examiner stated there was no objective evidence to support such a finding. An addendum opinion was requested with a corrected service-connected diagnosis of left knee arthritis. The examiner again opined, in November 2017, it was less likely than not the Veteran's right knee pain was related to his left knee arthritis, stating that people develop arthritis throughout the body as they age and that most likely his right knee arthritis developed regardless of whether there was arthritis in the left joint. The probative value of a medical opinion is generally based on the scope of the examination or review, as well as the relative merits of the expert's qualifications and analytical findings, and the probative weight of a medical opinion may be reduced if the examiner fails to explain the basis for an opinion. Sklar v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 140 (1993). Here, the VA examiner, did not offer an adequate rationale to support their etiological opinions. Further, the VA examiner did not appear to have considered the Veteran's lay statements as to his left and right knee symptoms; the opinions are thus inadequate and lack probative value. A private examiner, in a November 2019 opinion, cited the Veteran's November 2019 statement describing his uneven walk developed since the onset of his service-connected left knee disability, causing pain and other symptoms in his right knee and causing him to shift his weight from one side to the other. After review of the claims file and exhaustive recitation of applicable medical literature, she opined that it was at least as likely as not that the Veteran's current right knee disability to include arthritis was secondary to his service-connected left knee internal derangement disability. She reasoned that due to the severity of the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability, and associated pain, he developed an antalgic gait pattern with limping that medical literature associates with secondary biomechanical changes that cause abnormal kinetics to occur within both lower extremity joints, and per the medical literature, such hastened the development and progression of his right knee disability. The November 2019 private opinion was based on a review of the claims file and the examiner offered a reasonable medical basis for their conclusion. Absent probative evidence to the contrary, the Board is not in a position to further question the opinions. See Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 171 (1991). Thus, there is probative evidence that the Veteran's right knee disability is secondary to his service-connected internal derangement, left knee. The Board concludes that service connection for the same is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert, 1 Vet. App. 49. P.M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs 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.