Citation Nr: 22013265 Decision Date: 03/09/22 Archive Date: 03/09/22 DOCKET NO. 18-50 206 DATE: March 9, 2022 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for right shoulder impingement with rotator cuff and bicipital tendonitis along with glenohumeral and acromioclavicular osteoarthritis is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1994 to October 2005; from May 2006 to August 2006; from July 2007 to November 2007; and from November 2007 to April 2017. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2018 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2021, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge; a transcript is of record. 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for right shoulder impingement with rotator cuff and bicipital tendonitis along with glenohumeral and acromioclavicular osteoarthritis. The Veteran was last afforded a VA examination for his right shoulder disability in November 2017. Since then, a March 2019 VA physical therapy record shows that the Veteran reported new symptoms not reported at the November 2017 VA examination: numbness, as well as intermittent sharp pain (as opposed to pain with any repetitive overhead activity reported at the November 2017 VA examination). The March 2019 VA physical therapy record also shows that range of motion testing revealed a slightly greater decreased range motion in the Veteran's right shoulder than shown at the 2017 examination. The Veteran will be provided an opportunity to report for a new VA examination to ascertain the current severity and manifestations of his right shoulder disability. 2. Entitlement to a TDIU. The issue of entitlement to a TDIU was raised by the record, by the Veteran's testimony at the August 2021 videoconference hearing, and is thus an implied part of the Veteran's claim for a higher initial evaluation for his service-connected right shoulder disability. Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009). The appeal for TDIU is inextricably intertwined with the increased rating claim being remanded. Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991). Accordingly, adjudication of the claim for TDIU is deferred at this time. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain updated VA treatment records for the period from August 2021to the present. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected right shoulder disability. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the disability under the rating criteria. In so doing, the examiner must test and record the Veteran's active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. The examiner must also attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups. The examiner is to provide the degree of functional loss expressed in terms of range of motion. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement based on direct observation, the examiner should provide an estimate, if at all possible, of the additional impairment due to flare-ups based on the other evidence of record and the Veteran's statements. If it is not possible to provide a specific measurement without speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). D. JOHNSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Caban, 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.