Citation Nr: 0812728 Decision Date: 04/17/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 06-13 980A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Indianapolis, Indiana THE ISSUE Whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for prostatitis. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD R. Kessel, Associate Counsel REMAND The veteran had active military service from October 1965 to August 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2004 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Indianapolis, Indiana. On his VA Form 9 (Appeal to Board of Veterans' Appeals), received by the RO in May 2006, the veteran wrote "Video Conference Only." In July 2006, the RO sent the veteran a letter informing him that he would be scheduled for an upcoming video hearing before the Board. No further steps were taken to schedule the veteran for a hearing. The veteran has a right to provide hearing testimony on appeal. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7107(b) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.700(a) (2007). In accordance with his request, the veteran must be provided an opportunity to present testimony during a videoconference hearing. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.700(e) (2007). (The Board notes that the veteran currently has several other claims before the RO. Any information from any temporary folder should be incorporated into the claims file prior to the hearing.) Accordingly, this case is REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the veteran for a videoconference hearing before a member of the Board. Notify the veteran of the date and time of the hearing. Locate and associate with the claims file any information from any temporary folders that are being maintained at the RO on behalf of the veteran prior to forwarding the case to the veteran's representative for preparation for the hearing. Allow the veteran and his representative an opportunity to review the claims file and prepare for the hearing. The claims file should thereafter be returned to the Board in advance of the hearing. By this remand, the Board intimates no opinion as to any final outcome warranted. No action is required of the veteran until he is notified by VA. The veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This case must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board 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. 2007). _________________________________________________ MARK F. HALSEY Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board 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) (2007).