Citation Nr: 22013104
Decision Date: 03/08/22	Archive Date: 03/08/22

DOCKET NO. 17-00 773
DATE: March 8, 2022

REMANDED

A rating higher than 10 percent for residuals of open reduction internal fixation status post right ulna and radius fracture (right wrist disability) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active duty service from June 2005 to May 2007.

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in September 2012. Testimony from the Veteran's July 2019 hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge is of record. The claim was remanded by the Board in November 2019 and April 2021.

1. A rating higher than 10 percent for residuals of open reduction internal fixation status post right ulna and radius fracture (right wrist disability) is remanded.

The Board remanded the claim in April 2021 to obtain the results of an electromyograph and nerve conduction study conducted by VA in 2012 and to schedule the Veteran for a VA neurological examination to determine whether neurological symptoms in the right upper extremity are associated with or a maturation of the open reduction internal fixation status post right ulna and radius fracture disability. 

The 2012 VA electromyograph and nerve conduction study was requested in April 2021. In response, an x-ray of the right forearm conducted May 4, 2012, was provided. A follow up request made in July 2021 does not appear to have been answered and the record still does not include a 2012 VA electromyograph and nerve conduction study. This record must again be requested on remand, especially given that the examiner who conducted the August 2021 VA peripheral nerve conditions examination referenced its findings. The Board also finds that the fee service procedure results scanned into imaging on November 20, 2012, should also be obtained. 

Following the August 2021 VA peripheral nerve conditions examination, the RO issued a rating decision in August 2021 that granted service connection for the right upper extremity radial nerve and assigned a 30 percent rating effective August 11, 2021. This date corresponds to the date of the examination, but the Veteran's neurological complaints precede it. An addendum opinion is needed to ascertain whether the evidence supports the assignment of an earlier effective date for a separate rating. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the results of an electromyograph and      nerve conduction study (not x-ray of the right forearm conducted May 4, 2012) conducted by VA in 2012.       If the record does not exist, that must be reflected in    the record.

2. Obtain the fee service procedure results scanned into imaging on November 20, 2012.

3. Return the claims file to the VA examiner who conducted the August 2021 VA peripheral nerve conditions examination. If that examiner is not available, the opinion should be provided by another qualified      VA examiner. Following review of the claims file, the examiner is asked to indicate whether service connection for the right upper extremity radial nerve should be established earlier than August 11, 2021, with specific reference to complaints made in May 2012 of continuous numbness and paresthesias in the right hand, usually the long, ring and small fingers; in June 2012 of decreased right upper extremity sensation; in October 2014 of right hand numbness in the last two digits; and in January 2015 of numbness of the 4th and 5th digits. The   examiner should explain why or why not.

4. If the claim remains denied, issue a supplemental statement of the case.

 

K. A. BANFIELD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Van Wambeke, 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.