Citation Nr: 21040621 Decision Date: 07/06/21 Archive Date: 07/06/21 DOCKET NO. 15-32 663 DATE: July 6, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for left knee condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right knee condition is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left ankle condition is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1966 to December 1968. In November 2018, the Board remanded this issue for additional development. The claims of entitlement to service connection for left ankle, left knee and right knee condition are remanded. The Veteran seeks service connection for left ankle, left knee and right knee conditions that he contends are the result of an in-service training accident when he fell from a ladder. See June 2018 Hr'g Tr. at 3, 4. The Board notes that this case was previously remanded in November 2018, partly to obtain VA examinations and opinions regarding the nature and etiology of his claims for left ankle, left knee and right conditions. The examiner was asked to provide an opinion as to whether these conditions were related to the Veteran's active duty military service. The November 2018 Board remand indicated that in providing the requested opinions, the examiner was to consider all relevant evidence of record, including both medical and lay evidence. The Board instructed the examiner to specifically discuss and assume as true the Veteran's competent and credible report regarding the onset of his right knee, left knee and left ankle symptoms, as documented in his January 1967 treatment records. Pursuant to the November 2018 Board Remand, the December 2019 VA examiner provided negative nexus opinions. However, the examiner did not discuss the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset and continuity of his symptoms. The Board observes that the Veteran is competent to report left ankle, left knee and right knee problems during service and since service. See Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009). In addition, as noted above, the Board has determined that the Veteran's report as to the onset of his left ankle, left knee and right knee are credible. When the Board expressly finds that the Veteran is competent to report observable symptoms such as pain, "the proper remedy is to order a new examination where a VA medical examiner fails to address the veteran's statements about medical history and the Board does not address the credibility of those statements." Miller v. Wilkie, 32 Vet. App. 249 (2020). Id. The Board observes that the examiner did not address the Veteran's report of left ankle, left knee and right knee problems since during and service. See Davidson, 581 F.3d at 1313. In light of the above, the Board finds remand is necessary to afford the Veteran new VA examinations to address the onset and etiology of the Veteran's left ankle, left knee and right knee disabilities. Miller; see also Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Notify the Veteran that he may submit lay statements from himself and from other individuals who have first-hand knowledge, and/or were contemporaneously informed of his in-service and post-service left ankle, left knee and right knee conditions. The Veteran should be provided an appropriate amount of time to submit this lay evidence. 2. Schedule the Veteran for appropriate VA medical examinations to determine the nature, onset and etiology of the Veteran's ankle, right knee and left knee impairment. The examiner should offer comments, an opinion, and a supporting rationale that address the following: Identify and diagnose all right knee, left knee and left ankle impairment found present. The Veteran has current diagnoses of left collateral ligament sprain, status post left ankle fracture, left knee and right knee tendonitis/tendinosis, left knee and right knee instability, left knee and patellofemoral pain syndrome. For each diagnosed condition, is it at least as likely as not that any diagnosed left ankle, left knee and right knee condition had its onset during service or is otherwise causally related to any event or circumstance of his service? In responding to this question, please assume as true the Veteran's competent and credible report regarding the onset of his right knee, left knee and left ankle symptoms, as documented in his January 1967 treatment records. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Jacquelynn M. Jordan, 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.