Citation Nr: 21042605
Decision Date: 07/13/21	Archive Date: 07/13/21

DOCKET NO. 16-26 384
DATE: July 13, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for post-operative fusion at L5-S1; degenerative disc disease is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from September 1980 to June 1981.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision.

The Veteran was afforded a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in August 2018.

In March 2019, the Board remanded the issue for further development.

1. Entitlement to service connection for post-operative fusion at L5-S1; degenerative disc disease is remanded.

The Veteran contends that her post-operative fusion at L5-S1, degenerative disc disease is due to a fall experienced during active service.

The Veteran underwent a VA examination and an opinion was obtained in April 2013.  The Board finds that the Veteran should undergo an updated examination and an updated opinion should be procured. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an orthopedist (M.D.) to determine the nature and etiology of any low back disability.  The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including a fall. 

In so opining, the examiner must do the following: (1) consider and address November 2018 and April 2020 lay statements from the Veteran's sister; (2) consider and address March 2013 lay statements from D.K. and L.D.; (3) consider and address the Veteran's belief that she had back pain in service, that she has had continued back pain ever since service, and therefore her current back disorder is related to her claimed in-service back injury; and (4) address if there is any medical reason to accept or reject the proposition that the Veteran's reported injury and symptoms in service and thereafter represented the onset of her current disability (i.e., do the Veteran's reports about her symptoms align with how the currently diagnosed disability is known to develop or are the Veteran's reports generally inconsistent with medical knowledge or implausible?)

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TANYA SMITH

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Alexia E. Palacios-Peters, 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.