BVA9507125 DOCKET NO. 93-12 530 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida THE ISSUES 1. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for multiple joint arthritis on either a direct or secondary basis. 2. Entitlement to an increased evaluation for a left knee disorder, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J.P. Reep, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from April 1948 to April 1952. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (the Board) on appeal from a November 1992 rating decision of the St. Petersburg, Florida Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which confirmed a 10 percent rating for the veteran's service-connected left knee disorder. Also in that decision, the RO declined to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection for multiple joint arthritis on a direct or secondary basis. In this regard, the Board has considered the assertion of the service representative that service connection for systemic arthritis on the basis of service incurrence has not been adjudicated. However, the rating decision of June 1983, which denied service connection on a secondary basis for arthritis, multiple joints, also denied service connection for arthritis on the basis that it was not incurred in or aggravated during service. Accordingly, the issue with respect to this disability is properly characterized on the preceding page. We note that contentions advanced by the veteran in his notice of disagreement and substantive appeal appear to raise the issue of entitlement to a total rating based upon individual unemployability. Because that issue was not developed for appeal, and is not inextricably intertwined with the issues at bar, we refer the issue regarding individual unemployability to the RO for appropriate action. REMAND It appears from the record that the veteran's most recent VA examination, for compensation purposes, was conducted in November 1971. Although the record contains an August 1992 entry by a private physician, which reflects treatment for the left knee, that entry is insufficient for rating the veteran's left knee disability. We note that, in September 1992, the veteran's representative requested an up-to-date VA examination. The Board notes, further, that the service representative has directed attention to the diagnosis in service, in January 1952, of rheumatoid arthritis, left knee. Such diagnosis was not subsequently confirmed. However, in order to afford every administrative consideration to the veteran, the presence or absence of an arthritic process involving the left knee, other than on a traumatic basis, should be explored. Consequently, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following actions: 1. The RO should obtain any and all up-to- date medical records, from all VA and non- VA facilities, reflecting treatment for a left knee disorder. Any records so obtained should be added to the claims folder. 2. The RO should schedule a suitable examination for the purpose of assessing the severity of the veteran's service- connected left knee disability. All appropriate testing should be conducted; the results reported. The report should indicate the degree, if any, of any limitation of motion of the left knee, and the extent, if any, of recurrent subluxation or lateral instability of the left knee. Before conducting the examination, the physician shall carefully review the veteran's claims folder. It is specifically requested that the examiner indicate whether there is any arthritic involvement of the left knee, attributable to causes other than trauma, possibly representing a systemic process, and related to the findings recorded during military service. The rationale for such opinion, whether positive or negative, should be set forth. 3. The RO should then again consider the veteran's claim for an increased rating for a left knee disorder. If that benefit remains denied, the veteran and his representative should be furnished with a supplemental statement of the case which contains an explanation of the RO's latest deliberations, and they should be afforded the opportunity to respond. Then the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if otherwise in order. Consideration of the remaining issue will be stayed, pending the aforementioned development. The veteran need take no action until he is further notified by the RO. The purpose of this remand is to procure additional evidence and to ensure due process of law. N. R. ROBIN Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).