BVA9500827 DOCKET NO. 92-52 663 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in New Orleans, Louisiana THE ISSUES Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hip, left knee, arm,, and leg disabilities, and arthritis of multiple joints as secondary to service-connected right knee and sacrovertebral disabilities. Entitlement to an increased disability rating for a disorder manifested by instability of the right knee, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. Entitlement to a total disability rating on the basis of individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD R. M. Yonemoto, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from June 1946 to June 1949, from August 1950 to October 1951, and from May 1952 to May 1955. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions of October 1990, September 1992, and June 1994 by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in New Orleans, Louisiana. In December 1991, the veteran appeared at a hearing before a traveling section of the Board. The issues of entitlement to service connection for left knee and left leg disabilities on direct and presumptive bases were denied by the RO and certified for appeal. In a statement of September 1992, the veteran withdrew those issues and raised the issues of secondary service connection. Hence, the issues on appeal are limited to secondary service connection as noted on the title page. In a decision of December 1993, the Board increased the evaluation assigned for hypertrophic arthritis of the sacral vertebrae. Subsequently, the RO implemented the Board's decision. Since then, the veteran has not expressed any disagreement with the award. REMAND In March 1992, the Board remanded the case for special VA orthopedic and neurologic examinations and requested that the examiners provide an opinion as to whether there was any etiological relationship between the disabilities in question and the veteran's service-connected right knee or sacrovertebral disorder. The veteran was then scheduled for a VA orthopedic examination in April 1992. The diagnoses included degenerative joint disease of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine and possibly of the sacroiliacs and both hips, and degenerative joint disease of both knees. On a VA neurologic examination in April 1992, the diagnoses included sciatic neuropathy, primarily a peroneal component with typical left foot drop gait and marked weakness of the anterior tibials and marked atrophy of the anterior tibials, hypesthesia, and hypalgesia over the lateral aspect of the left leg and dorsolateral left foot, and mild ulnar sensory neuropathy, apparently at the elbow without motor dysfunction, hypesthesia in the typical ulnar distribution to the left hand. The examiners at those examinations, however, did not express an opinion regarding the etiological relationship, if any, between the disabilities in question and the service- connected disabilities; they did not comply with the Board's March 1992 Remand. In September 1992, the veteran stated that he fell at work and was knocked unconscious in April 1992, and that he was scheduled for a right knee operation in November 1992. There is, however, no indication whether the veteran had that operation. Furthermore, no medical records dated since March 1992 are on file, to include any treatment report for the April 1992 injury or a hospital summary. In a written statement of October 1994, the veteran's representative pointed out that a social/industrial survey had not been conducted and requested that such survey be conducted for the veteran. In view of the foregoing and to afford the veteran every consideration of his claim, we REMAND the case for the following actions: 1. The RO should obtain and associate with the claims folder copies of all medical records, not already on file, showing treatment of the veteran since 1990, to include any VA hospital summary. The veteran should be requested to assist in this matter by providing complete information regarding all sources of his treatment. 2. The RO should again schedule the veteran for special VA neurologic and orthopedic examinations to determine the nature, etiology, and severity of his left knee, left leg, and arm disabilities. The examinations should be conducted in accordance with the Physician's Guide for Disability Evaluation Examinations. All indicated tests, including X-ray studies, should be conducted. The examiners should be requested to provide an opinion as to whether there is any etiological relationship between the disabilities in question and the veteran's service- connected right knee or sacrovertebral disorder. The claims folder should be made available to the examiners prior to the examinations for their use in obtaining a true picture of the progress of the disabilities in question and in constructing an overall picture which is commensurate with the facts available. 3. The RO should also schedule a social and industrial survey of the veteran. The report should contain a description of his daily activities and information on his involvement, if any, in community affairs, social organizations, and church activities. When the above development is completed, the case should be reviewed by the RO. If the decision remains adverse to the veteran, he and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond thereto. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. No action is required of the veteran until he receives further notice. The purpose of this REMAND is to procure clarifying data and to satisfy due process requirements. J. U. JOHNSON 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) (1993).