Citation Nr: 22012132
Decision Date: 03/02/22	Archive Date: 03/02/22

DOCKET NO. 13-25 340A
DATE: March 2, 2022

REMANDED

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for prostatitis, prior to January 31, 2018, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1968 to April 1970.

The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in January 2018.  A transcript of the hearing was prepared and added to the record.

This case was initially before the Board in April 2018, when the claim listed above was remanded for further development.  In a January 2020 decision, the Board granted entitlement to an increased rating of 20 percent for the Veteran's service-connected prostatitis, prior to January 31, 2018.  An increased rating of 40 percent was granted between January 31, 2018 and May 15, 2019, and a rating in excess of 40 percent was denied since May 16, 2019. Subsequently, the Veteran appealed the aforesaid decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC).  In an August 2021 CAVC Memorandum Decision, the Court vacated the portion of the Board's decision denying a rating in excess of 20 percent for prostatitis, prior to January 31, 2018.  The Court remanded this claim back to the Board for additional development and readjudication in compliance with the directives specified.  The claim is again before the Board.

1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for prostatitis, prior to January 31, 2018, is remanded.

As noted above, in August 2021, CAVC vacated and remanded the part of the January 2020 Board decision which denied entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for the Veteran's service-connected prostatitis for the period prior to January 31, 2018. CAVC noted that the Board relied on an inadequate examination in denying entitlement to a higher disability rating for this portion of the appeal period.  As such, the Board finds that a new examination and medical opinion, to include a retrospective medical opinion, are required to address the severity of the Veteran's service-connected prostatitis, for the appeal period prior to January 31, 2018.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for appropriate VA examination, with a qualified examiner, to evaluate the Veteran's prostatitis disability.  The claims file should be made available to and reviewed by the examiner and all necessary tests should be performed.

The examiner should review this remand in its entirety, as well as the August 2021 CAVC Memorandum decision.

Based on the Veteran's lay statements and the other evidence of the record, the examiner is further instructed to provide a retrospective opinion estimating the severity of the Veteran's prostatitis for the period on appeal prior to January 31, 2018. The examiner must provide a thorough analysis and discussion of both the Veteran's prostatitis symptomatology and when the symptoms worsened, including discussion of the symptoms' progression and their effects on the Veteran's disability throughout the appeal period. In this connection, the examiner must opine as to when the Veteran's prostatitis reached its current level of severity.

The examiner must provide a complete rationale for all proffered opinions.  If the examiner is unable to provide any required opinion, he or she should explain why.  If an examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he or she shall provide a complete explanation as to why this is so.  If the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, the examiner should identify the additional information that is needed. 

 

Caroline B. Fleming

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. M. Clark, 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.