Citation Nr: 0607728 Decision Date: 03/16/06 Archive Date: 03/29/06 DOCKET NO. 98-17 587A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for a respiratory disorder, to include pulmonary fibrosis as a residual of pulmonary tuberculosis. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Joseph R. Keselyak, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from July 1963 to July 1966. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a September 1998 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Boston, Massachusetts. In September 2004, the Board remanded the case and because certain directives were not fulfilled, the matter must be returned to agency of original jurisdiction again for reasons detailed below. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify you if further action is required on your part. REMAND A review of the file indicates that the veteran has been afforded three VA medical examinations in furtherance of his claim. The veteran last received a medical examination in February 2005, pursuant to the Board's September 2004 remand. In that remand, the examiner was asked to provide an opinion as to whether it is as least likely as not that any current lung disability is related to service and the remand specified that the examiner was to support all opinions and conclusions by complete rational in a written report. The examiner conducted an examination and provided a written report, but did not address the question of whether it is as least likely as not that any current lung disability is related to service. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The veteran should be scheduled for a VA medical examination. The RO should forward the veteran's claims file to the VA examiner for review before the veteran's examination. The examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is as least likely as not (50/50) that any current lung disability, including a residual of pulmonary tuberculosis in the form of pulmonary fibrosis, is related to service. The examiner should state that they have reviewed the veteran's claims file. All opinions and conclusions expressed must be supported by complete rationale in a typewritten report. 2. Following the veteran's medical examination, the RO should readjudicate the veteran's service connection claim. If the determination of the claim remains unfavorable to the veteran, the RO must issue a supplemental statement of the case and provide him a reasonable period of time to respond before this case is returned to the Board. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2005). _________________________________________________ WARREN W. RICE, JR. Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 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) (2005).