Citation Nr: 22015136
Decision Date: 03/16/22	Archive Date: 03/16/22

DOCKET NO. 16-08 334
DATE: March 16, 2022

REMANDED

Whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1977 to December 1977, and from October 2003 to January 2005.

He testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge during a January 2019 videoconference hearing, and a transcript of this hearing is of record.  Subsequently, this issue was remanded by the Board in July 2019 and June 2021 for further development.

Specifically, in the July 2019 and June 2021 remands, the Board requested that the Regional Office (RO) issue a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) considering the contention raised by the Veteran as to service connection for his claimed left knee disability as secondary to his service-connected right knee condition.

The RO did not address the issue of secondary service connection in the August 2020 or the October 2021 SSOC, as requested by the Board in the remands.  As the RO failed to comply with the remand instruction to issue a SSOC considering the contention raised as to service connection for the Veteran's claimed left knee disability as secondary to his service-connected right knee condition, the Board finds this issue must regrettably be remanded in order to comply with the June 2021 instruction.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998).  Further, as the representative raised the issue in the February 2022 Written Brief Presentation of service connection for his claimed left knee disability as secondary to his service-connected bilateral hip condition, the RO should address this theory as well.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Associate with the claims file treatment records from the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System from October 2021 to the present.

2. Then, readjudicate the claim and issue a SSOC.  The RO should consider and address the contentions raised at the Board hearing and in the June 2021 and February 2022 Written Brief Presentations as to service connection secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right knee condition and/or his service-connected bilateral hip condition.

 

 

MICHELLE L. KANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	L. Durham, 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.