Citation Nr: 21040527 Decision Date: 07/05/21 Archive Date: 07/05/21 DOCKET NO. 16-20 689 DATE: July 5, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from October 1970 to October 1974 and in the United States Army from June 1979 to July 1996. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a July 2012 rating decision by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In March 2020, the Board denied the Veteran's service connection claim. The Veteran then appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). While his appeal was pending before the Court, the Veteran and VA's General Counsel filed a joint motion for remand (JMR), agreeing that a June 2019 examination report was inadequate because it did not substantially comply with the Board's previous remand instructions from September 2018. In March 2021, the Court granted the JMR, vacated the Board's March 2020 decision, and remanded the matter for readjudication. The matter has now returned to the Board. Given the findings included in the JMR and the Court's decision, the Board finds remand necessary to ensure compliance with the Court's order. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability is remanded. The Veteran contends that his low back condition is related to his service. As noted in the JMR, in September 2018, the Board remanded this matter for an additional VA examination, noting that the June 2012 examination of record failed to consider lay evidence that the Veteran began experiencing lumbar spine pain in service that continued to the present, and failed to address the Veteran's contention that he had taken pain medication from 1984 to 2010 for his lumbar spine pain. In its remand, the Board directed that an examiner consider such statements regarding the Veteran's in-service issues and continuity of symptomatology as credible. According to the JMR, upon the Veteran's post-remand VA examination in June 2019, the examiner noted the Veteran's reports that he was prescribed Naproxen multiple times during service, but again failed to address the Veteran's Naproxen use during any period between the end of the Veteran's service in 1996 and 2010 as directed by the Board. Additionally, the examiner found that the Veteran "did not have recurring complaints of low back pain other than the event in 1985." As such, the examiner failed to address the "numerous in-service complaints of low back pain," as instructed. As such, remand is necessary to ensure substantial compliance with the JMR and Board's instructions. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain a VA medical addendum opinion. An examination should be scheduled if deemed necessary to provide the requested medical opinion. The examiner shall provide answers to the following regarding the Veteran's low back: (a.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability began in, or is otherwise the result of his military service, to include his numerous in-service reports of low back pain? Please discuss the Veteran's contentions that he took Naproxen 500 mg from 1984 to 2010, and that his pain started in service and has continued ever since. The examiner is notified that the Veteran's statements regarding his in-service issues and continuity of symptomatology are credible. The rationale for any opinion offered should be provided. 2. Following adequate completion of the above, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction shall readjudicate the claim on appeal. S. Sorathia Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Hart, 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.