Citation Nr: 1306503	
Decision Date: 02/26/13    Archive Date: 03/01/13

DOCKET NO.  07-26 615	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Louisville, Kentucky


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for back pain (cervical arthritis and disc disease from C4-C7).

2.  Entitlement to a rating higher than 20 percent for residuals of a left shoulder sprain.

3.  Entitlement to service connection for pes cavus.


REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	Disabled American Veterans


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

S. Finn, Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from December 1965 to September 1967.

This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is from November 2005 and January 2008 rating decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

There is an outstanding hearing request, so the Board is remanding the claims to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) in Washington, DC.


REMAND

In September 2009, the Veteran requested a videoconference hearing before the Board.  His hearing was scheduled for October 26, 2009, but postponed because he was in a motor vehicle accident.  There was never any attempt to reschedule his hearing, however, and his representative pointed this out when recently submitting a statement to the Board in January 2013.  They have provided sufficient explanation ("good cause") for not being able to have the previously scheduled hearing, so the Board is granting the representative's motion to remand the claims to reschedule the videoconference hearing.  38 C.F.R. §§ 20.700(e), 20.702(c)(2) (2012).  Because the Board may not proceed with an adjudication of the Veteran's claims without affording him the opportunity for this hearing, and because the RO, rather than the Board, schedules videoconference hearings, the Board must remand the claims.  See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 20.700(a).


Accordingly, the claims are REMANDED for the following action:

Reschedule the Veteran's videoconference hearing.  Notify him and his representative of the date, time and location of this hearing.  Put a copy of this letter in the claims file.  In the event the Veteran fails to appear for his hearing, if without good cause, or changes his mind and elects not to have a hearing, also document this in the claims file.


The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument concerning the claims the Board is remanding.  Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999).

These claims 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).



_________________________________________________
KEITH W. ALLEN
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).