Citation Nr: 0812876 Decision Date: 04/18/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 05-04 720 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for residuals of right hand injury and surgery, including scarring. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Nicole Klassen, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from March 1961 to March 1964. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2004 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which denied the above claim. 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 contends that he has chronic pain, lost strength, nerve damage, and sensitivity to cold as a result of two in- service surgeries. The veteran's service medical records indicate that, in October 1961, he had a tumor of the right fourth finger and a cyst of the right ring finger removed, and, in April 1962, the veteran underwent an excision of endochondroma of the right third metacarpal. The veteran reported in his February 2004 claim that he has never sought medical treatment for his residuals of surgery, but has instead tried to live with the pain. The veteran was afforded a VA examination in June 2004; however, to date, no medical opinion has specifically diagnosed the veteran's right hand disability (e.g., whether there is muscle damage, neurological damage, limitation of motion, pain on repeated use, etc.), or adequately addressed whether any such disability is related to the veteran's in- service surgeries, including the October 1961 tumor and cyst removal and the April 1962 endochondroma excision. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5103A(d)(2). A medical opinion is necessary to make a determination in this case. As such, this case must unfortunately be remanded. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the veteran for a VA examination. The claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. All necessary tests should be conducted. The examiner should identify any disorder of the right hand (e.g., muscle injury, lost strength, lost functionality upon use, lost range of motion, scarring, etc.). The examiner should also offer an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any such disability was caused by the veteran's in-service right hand tumor, cyst, and endochroma removal surgeries. All conclusions should be set forth in a legible report. 2. Thereafter, readjudicate the veteran's claim on appeal. If the claim remains denied, provide the veteran and his representative with a supplemental statement of the case and allow an appropriate time for response. The appellant 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 claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims 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).