Citation Nr: 1320127 Decision Date: 06/21/13 Archive Date: 07/02/13 DOCKET NO. 09-10 376 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Des Moines, Iowa THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for back disability. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Vietnam Veterans of America ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Lawson, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1970 to January 1973. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2006 rating decision by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This matter was remanded in January 2011 for further development. The Board denied the claim in December 2011. That decision was appealed and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) issued an October 2012 Order in which it vacated that Board decision and remanded the case to the Board for further development pursuant to a Joint Motion of the Veteran and VA's General Counsel. . 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 Joint Motion of the parties addresses the evidence as it may suggest a continuity of back symptomatology to show a link or nexus between current low back disability and low back symptoms during service. Specifically, the Joint Motion states that the Veteran injured her back in June 1972 and was treated by Dr. M. Tincher for a sore lower back in April, June and August of 1973. Additional low back complaints were reported in September and October 1973. The Joint Motion goes on to cite additional low back treatment beginning in 1981. The Veteran underwent VA examination in March 2011. The examiner rendered a negative opinion as to a nexus to service. However, the examiner commented that there was not medical evidence to corroborate continued chronic back pain since the 1972 fall in service. The examiner did cite to the 1973 treatment, but appears to question the diagnosis rendered at that time. In view of the Joint Motion's direction to undertake another analysis focusing on a continuity of low back symptoms since service, the Board believes another VA examination with opinion would be helpful to allow for informed appellate review. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. The Veteran should be scheduled for a VA low back examination by an appropriate medical doctor. It is imperative that the claims file be made available to the examiner for review. Any medical indicated special studies and tests should be accomplished. The examiner should clearly list all current chronic low back disorders diagnosed on examination. As to each diagnosed low back disorder, the examiner should offer an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50% or higher degree of probability) that such disorder is causally related to service, to specifically include the 1972 fall in service. A detailed rationale should be furnished, to specifically include discussion of the significance of the 1973 treatment by Dr. M. Tincher as it may or may not relate to treatment of low back symptoms related to the 1972 fall. 2. After completion of the above, the RO should review the expanded record and determine if service connection for low back disability is warranted. If the claim remains denied, the Veteran and her representative should be furnished an appropriate supplemental statement of the case and be afforded an opportunity to respond. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for 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 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). _________________________________________________ ALAN S. PEEVY 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).