Citation Nr: 22014013 Decision Date: 03/11/22 Archive Date: 03/11/22 DOCKET NO. 15-19 485 DATE: March 11, 2022 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right knee strain is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right knee Osgood-Schlatter disease is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right hamstring disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left hamstring disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from April 1988 to April 1996. In an October 2020 decision, the Board denied these claims, and, in response, the Veteran appealed to the higher U. S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veterans Court/CAVC). In an October 2021 Order, granting a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), the CAVC vacated the Board's decision denying these claims and remanded them back to the Board for further development and readjudication consistent with terms agreed on in the JMPR. To comply with the Court's Order granting that JMPR, the Board in turn is remanding these claims back the local Regional Office (RO), so back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). 1. Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disorder is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service connection for right knee strain is remanded. 3. Entitlement to service connection for right knee Osgood-Schlatter disease is remanded. 4. Entitlement to service connection for a right hamstring disorder is remanded. 5. Entitlement to service connection for a left hamstring disorder is remanded. 6. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is remanded. The Board previously denied these claims essentially on the premise the Veteran had not established that he had any of these claimed disorders either when filing these claims, at some time proximate to that, or even during the years since. See McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007); Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 294 (2013). The Board also explained that this is the most fundamental element of these claims because, if he does not first establish that he has these claimed disorders, then for all intents and purposes there is no present disorder to in turn relate or attribute to his military service. Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992) (in the absence of proof of a present disability there necessarily can be no valid claim). The Board also explained there was no indication of symptoms causing functional impairment of his earning capacity that could in turn, for this purpose, be considered a disability even absent any underlying diagnosis. See Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2018). Those findings primarily were based on the results of October 2019 VA examinations. However, in the October 2021 JMPR, the parties nonetheless agreed that the Board did not provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for its determinations. In this regard, the Board failed to address favorable evidence namely, a prior February 2012 VA examination noting diagnoses of right knee strain, left shoulder strain, and a thoracolumbar spine (back) condition that includes low back pain. The more recent October 2019 VA examiner did not reconcile his finding of no current disabilities at the time of his more recent examination with the results of that earlier VA examiner contrarily listing these diagnoses. Thus, the Board must obtain more medical comment to resolve this discrepancy (conflicting findings). The parties also agreed the Board erred by "failing to account for whether the evidence of record showed that the Veteran's left shoulder, right knee, bilateral hamstring, and low back caused pain resulting in functional loss such as to constitute current disabilities." See Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2018). The JMPR pointed out that, although the Board determined that the evidence did not reflect pain severe enough to result in functional impairment and cited to the report of the October 2019 VA examination, the earlier February 2012 VA examiner had noted that the Veteran's low back, right knee, bilateral hamstring, and left shoulder caused functional loss and impact his ability to work. Accordingly, these claims are REMANDED for the following action: Have the Veteran undergo another VA examination for more medical comment (an addendum opinion) concerning the origins of his claimed left shoulder, right knee, bilateral (left and right) hamstring, and low back disorders. The claims folder, including a complete copy of this remand and the JMPR, must be provided to and reviewed by the examiner as part of the examination. The examiner is first specifically asked to reconcile the results of the October 2019 VA examination with those of the earlier February 2012 VA examination including especially in terms of whether the Veteran has these claimed disorders or symptoms associated with them (e.g., chronic pain) causing functional impairment of his earning capacity to, in turn, require considering them as ratable disabilities even absent any underlying diagnoses. For each disorder confirmed to exist, or one having symptoms causing functional impairment of earning capacity, indicate whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) the disability a) onset or incepted during the Veteran's service from April 1988 to April 1996, or b) if involving arthritis, manifested within the first year after his separation from service so by April 1997, to, in turn, warrant presuming it was incurred during his service, or c) is otherwise related or attributable to his service, even if not initially diagnosed until after his service. KEITH W. ALLEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board P. Poindexter 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.