Citation Nr: 21042848 Decision Date: 07/14/21 Archive Date: 07/14/21 DOCKET NO. 19-03 607 DATE: July 14, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from May 1974 to May 1977. This matter initially came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2016 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2019, the Board denied the appeal of entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability. The Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a February 2021 Memorandum Decision, the Court set aside the Board's August 2019 decision and remanded the matter for readjudication consistent with the Court's Memorandum Decision. Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability is remanded. Unfortunately, following review and consideration of the Court's 2021 Memorandum Decision, the Board finds that the matter must be remanded for additional development. The Veteran was provided with a VA examination for his lumbar spine disability in August 2016. VA has a duty to ensure that any medical examination or opinion it provides is adequate. Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 312 (200&). The Board finds that the VA examination report is incomplete and for this reason, inadequate. Thus the matter must be remanded in order to obtain an additional medical examination. Specifically, as rationale for his negative nexus opinion, the August 2016 examiner stated that it had been 59 years since the Veteran's discharge from service. The Board notes that the Veteran began to complain of low back problems beginning in 2003, which were all attributed to kidney issues and was subsequently first diagnosed with a lumbar spine disabilility, specifically lumbar spine degenerative changes with radiculopathy, in November 2014. Thus, the examiner's negative opinion appears to be based on an incorrect factual premise that 39 years elapsed between the Veteran's discharge from active service and any signs, symptoms and/or diagnosis of his lumbar spine disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain any unassociated private and/or VA treatment records. (Continued on the next page) 2. Obtain an opinion regarding the Veteran's claim for service connection for his lumbar spine disability. Following a complete review of the evidence of record, and with consideration of the Veteran's lay statements, assuming the statements are credible for the limited purpose of the request herein, the medical professional is requested to provide the following opinion: Is it at least as likely as not that the lumbar spine disability (1) began during active service, (2) manifested within the one year presumptive period after discharge from service, or (3) was noted during service with continuity of the same symptomatology since service? Jennifer White Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Susan Leary 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.