Citation Nr: 23022243 Decision Date: 04/13/23 Archive Date: 04/13/23 DOCKET NO. 15-15 802 DATE: April 13, 2023 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a back disorder is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder, to include a secondary to a lumbar spine disorder, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder only as secondary to service-connected disabilities is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1985 to March 1989. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a September 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a hearing with the undersigned in June 2018. These issues were previously remanded by the Board in April 2020 and have since been returned for further adjudication. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a back disorder is remanded. Although the Board regrets additional delay, remand is necessary to comply with the prior remand instructions. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). In the April 2020 remand, the Board directed the examiner to provide an opinion and to address the Veteran's lay statements of continuous symptoms since service. The Veteran has continued to claim that he has suffered from back pain since service, and that he initially did not seek treatment after service because he was trying to deal with the pain on his own due to work and family obligations. Additionally, when the Veteran initially got out of service, he filed a claim for a back disability, bolstering his contentions that he has suffered from back pain since service. Further, when he was initially diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, the Veteran reported that he had injured his back when he fell from a bunk in service. See June 2011 Medical Treatment Record. Finally, a treatment note from August 2018 notes that he has back and hip pain due to his in-service complications. See May 2020 Medical Treatment Record. Although a June 2020 VA opinion was obtained, the examiner did not address the Veteran's lay statements, as directed by the Board in the prior remand. As such, remand is necessary to obtain an addendum opinion. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder, to include as secondary to a lumbar spine disorder, is remanded. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder only as secondary to service-connected disabilities is remanded. The record reflects a diagnosis of lumbar radiculopathy and that the Veteran's psychiatric disorder is caused and aggravated by his lumbar spine and hip disorders. As these issues depend on the resolution of the Veteran's claim for service connection for his lumbar spine disability, this issue is inextricably interwind with the pending claim. See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991) (holding that issues are inextricably intertwined and must be considered together when a decision concerning one could have a significant impact on the other). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Obtain an opinion from an appropriate VA clinician. The entire claims file must be made available to and be reviewed by the examiner. If an examination is deemed necessary, it shall be provided. An explanation for all opinions expressed must be provided. (a.) The clinician must provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that a lumbar spine disorder had onset, or is otherwise related to, active service, to include the Veteran's lay statements of continuous symptoms since service. (b.) The clinician must provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that a hip disorder had onset, or is otherwise related to, active service. (c.) The clinician must provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that a hip disorder was caused or aggravated by a lumbar spine disorder. The examiner must presume, for purposes of these opinions only, that the Veteran experience recurrent back pain since service discharge. The examiner must address the following: 1) the Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service injury and any symptoms thereafter, to include those at the 2018 Board hearing; 2) the Veteran's service treatment records, including those dated in March 1985, August 1987, June 1988, and October 1988; 3) a December 2009 medical record in which the Veteran reported back pain for 1-2 years, as well as an incident in the military in the 1980s; 4) a June 2012 VA treatment record in which the Veteran reported falling on his back in the 1980swhile in the military; and 5) the May 2019 and February 2020 VA examination report. K. MILLIKAN Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. H., 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.