Citation Nr: 0812774 Decision Date: 04/17/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 06-27 908 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in San Juan, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased evaluation for hypertension, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L.M. Barnard, Senior Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had verified service from March 1960 to April 1976. This appeal arose before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a July 2005 rating decision of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which denied entitlement to an increased evaluation for the service- connected hypertension. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND The veteran has claimed that the evaluation assigned to his service-connected hypertension should be increased to 20 percent. He noted that his private treatment records reflected diastolic readings that averaged more than 100, thus supporting the assignment of an increased disability evaluation. The Board notes that the veteran was last examined by VA in March 2005, approximately three years ago. The veteran stated that he had offered to show his private records to the examining physician, who had indicated that their review was unnecessary. The Board disagrees and finds that these records must be reviewed in order to accurately ascertain the degree of severity of the veteran's service-connected hypertension. As a consequence, these treatment records must be obtained and associated with the claims folder (the file only currently contains two statements from his physicians which do not include any blood pressure readings). Once they are obtained, another VA examination must be conducted. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the veteran and request that he sign and return consent forms authorizing the release to VA of private treatment records held by Dr.'s R. E-C. and C. D. S-L. developed between December 2003 and the present. These records must then be obtained and associated with the claims folder. If the records are not available, it must be so stated, in writing, for inclusion in the claims folder. 2. Afford the veteran a complete VA cardiovascular examination in order to ascertain the current nature and degree of severity of his service-connected hypertension. The claims folder, to include the private treatment records obtained above, must be made available to the examiner to review in conjunction with the examination, and the examiner must indicate in the report that the claims folder was so reviewed. All indicated special studies deemed necessary must be conducted. A complete rationale for any opinions expressed must be provided. 3. Then readjudicate the appeal. If the claim remains denied, the veteran must be provided with an appropriate supplemental statement of the case, as well as an opportunity to respond. The case should then be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if otherwise in order. 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. 2007). _________________________________________________ STEVEN D. REISS Acting 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) (2007).