Citation Nr: 1320142	
Decision Date: 06/21/13    Archive Date: 07/02/13

DOCKET NO.  08-29 421	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Denver, Colorado


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for a neck disability.

2.  Entitlement to service connection for left arm and hand numbness.


REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States


WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Veteran


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

L. B. Yantz, Counsel
INTRODUCTION

The Veteran had active duty service from July 1966 to February 1969.

These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2007 rating decision by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  A notice of disagreement was received in March 2008, a statement of the case was issued in September 2008, and a substantive appeal was received in October 2008.  The Veteran appeared at a Board video conference hearing in May 2011.  A transcript is of record.

This case was previously before the Board in November 2011, when the Board remanded the current issues for additional development.

The Board notes that it has reviewed both the Veteran's physical claims file and "Virtual VA" (VA's electronic data storage system.

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required.


REMAND

In its November 2011 remand, the Board instructed the RO/AMC to take appropriate action to obtain copies of all VA treatment records for the Veteran from May 1, 2007 to the present.  Pursuant to this instruction, the RO/AMC obtained the Veteran's VA treatment records dating from May 2007 through November 2011 and added them to his file in Virtual VA.  (Such records have now been printed and associated with the physical claims file.)

Thereafter, a document dated in December 2012 was associated with the physical claims file which indicated that additional VA treatment records dating from April 2012 through September 2012 were added to the Veteran's file in Virtual VA.  This document also references "CAPRI," but it is not clear if the additional records were entered into CAPRI or Virtual VA.  At any rate, at this time such records are not present in Virtual VA, nor are they present in the physical claims file.

Any ongoing VA medical records are constructively of record and must be obtained.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159; Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).  On remand, the RO/AMC must ensure that these VA treatment records dating from April 2012 through September 2012 (as well as any additional ongoing records) are associated with either the physical claims file or the Veteran's file in Virtual VA.

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions:

1.  The RO/AMC must make arrangements to obtain all outstanding (not already contained in the claims file) VA medical records of treatment the Veteran has received for his claimed disabilities since November 2011 (including specifically the identified records dating from April 2012 through September 2012, as well as any additional ongoing records, from the VA Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming).

2.  After completion of the above, the RO/AMC should review the expanded record and readjudicate the issues on appeal.  If any issue on appeal remains denied, the RO/AMC should furnish the Veteran with an appropriate supplemental statement of the case, and the case should be returned to the Board after the Veteran is afforded an opportunity to respond.

The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matters the Board has remanded.  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).




_________________________________________________
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).