Citation Nr: 0814765 Decision Date: 05/05/08 Archive Date: 05/12/08 DOCKET NO. 06-01 533 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in No. Little Rock, Arkansas THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 60 percent for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with left lower extremity radiculopathy. 2. Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 50 percent for adjustment disorder with depressed mood associated with lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with left lower extremity radiculopathy. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. C. Graham, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from December 1990 to April 1991. The instant appeal arose from an August 2003 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), in North Little Rock, Arkansas, which granted a claim for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine, with limitation of motion, and assigned a 40 percent rating and also granted service connection for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine, with radiculopathy of left lower extremity, and assigned a 20 percent rating. These two disabilities were later recharacterized as one disability, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with left lower extremity radiculopathy, and an increased rating, to 60 percent, was granted in a November 2005 statement of the case (SOC). The instant appeal also arose from an April 2004 rating decision which granted service connection for adjustment disorder with depressed mood and assigned a 30 percent rating. An increased rating, to 50 percent, was granted in the November 2005 SOC. 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 evidence shows that the veteran filed a claim for disability benefits with the Social Security Administration (SSA). See November 10, 2005, Report of Contact. The RO made three separate attempts to develop these records, but no SSA records were received. In November 2005, the RO contacted the veteran, who stated that SSA told her that they had received her VA records. She indicated that she wanted to proceed with her VA claim without the SSA records. However, the law requires VA to continue to make efforts to obtain federal records such as these until they are obtained, unless it is reasonably certain that such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain those records would be futile. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5103A(b)(3) (West 2002). The records connected with the SSA determination must be associated with the claims folder. In addition, the veteran has stopped working since her last VA examination reports were prepared in 2004 and she has reported increased symptomatology that requires higher doses of medication for her psychiatric and back disorders. See written statement from the veteran dated November 23, 2004. Contemporaneous VA examinations would assist in the adjudication of these claims. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Develop all records with regard to the veteran from the SSA, including medical records, associated with his disability claim. 2. Schedule a VA examination to assess the nature and severity of the veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with left lower extremity radiculopathy, to include its impact on her unemployability. The claims files should be made available to the examiner for review in connection with the examination. 3. Schedule a VA examination to assess the nature and severity of the veteran's adjustment disorder with depressed mood, to include its impact on her unemployability. The claims file should be made available to the examiner for review in connection with the examination. 4. Then, readjudicate the initial rating claims on appeal. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the veteran and her representative, if any, should be issued a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) which addresses all relevant actions taken on the claims, to include a summary of the evidence and applicable law and regulations considered since the issuance of the last SSOC. The veteran should be given the opportunity to respond to the SSOC before the case is returned to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) for further appellate review. 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 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). _________________________________________________ MARJORIE A. AUER 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).