Citation Nr: 1304335 Decision Date: 02/06/13 Archive Date: 02/19/13 DOCKET NO. 08-14 207 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Waco, Texas THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for migraine headaches. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Texas Veterans Commission ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Nichols, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1976 to October 1978. This appeal comes before the Board of Veterans' Affairs (Board) from a January 2008 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas. By way of history, the Board remanded this case for further development in September 2010 and July 2012. 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 Throughout his appeal, the Veteran asserts that his current migraine headache is related to his military service. The Board regrets that this issue must be remanded one more time for a new medical opinion regarding causation. Following the initial VA examination in October 2010, the examiner, Dr. M.J., noted that he was unable to find any reports with regards to a head injury in the service treatment records. Thus, he did not provide a medical opinion. Pursuant to the Board's last remand directive in July 2012, the RO again attempted to obtain a medical opinion from Dr. M.J. in August 2012. Dr. M.J. was asked to provide a causal and etiological opinion as to whether the current migraine was related to any incident in service. Dr. M.J. remarked that upon re-review of the case file, he was still unable to provide a medical opinion as he claimed there were insufficient records from service. He noted that he was unable to find records regarding headaches, migraines, or head injury in service. He further commented that "[b]ased on current evidence and per verbal report from [V]eteran it appears [V]eteran migraines were diagnosed post service[.]" The Board finds that Dr. M.J.'s opinion is inadequate there was no consideration of the April 1978 service treatment report showing that the Veteran was injured in an auto accident, sustaining a closed head trauma in service. This document can be found in the casefile, but Board has placed a photocopy atop the claims folder for the examiner's convenience. Once VA undertakes the effort to provide an examination when developing a service-connection claim, even if not statutorily obligated to do so, it must provide an adequate one or, at a minimum, notify the claimant why one will not or cannot be provided. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007). Consequently, a remand is required for a complete VA opinion to be rendered after consideration of the April 1978 service treatment record. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain an opinion with a VA examiner other than Dr. M.J. who performed the previous VA examination of record. The claims folder should be made available to the new VA examiner. After a complete review of the evidence, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater) that the current migraine headache is otherwise caused by or related to the head trauma sustained by the Veteran in service. Please reference the April 1978 in-service medical treatment report indicating that the Veteran was involved in an auto accident, sustaining head trauma. The opinion rendered should be supported with rationale. 2. Adjudicate the issue of service connection for migraine headaches. If upon completion of the above action any benefit sought remains denied, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with requisite appellate procedures. 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. 2012). _________________________________________________ H. N. SCHWARTZ 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) (2012).