Citation Nr: 1328303 Decision Date: 09/05/13 Archive Date: 09/16/13 DOCKET NO. 10-35 551 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Muskogee, Oklahoma THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for multiple sclerosis. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a disability manifested by anemia. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral knee disability. 4. Entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant (the Veteran) ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Joseph P. Gervasio, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran, who is the appellant, served on active duty from November 1990 to May 1991. She also had additional reserve service until February 2002. This case comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of September 2009 and July 2010 rating decisions of the Muskogee, Oklahoma, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In August 2011, a videoconference Board hearing was held before the undersigned. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the Veteran's claims file. 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 on her part. REMAND The Veteran is claiming service connection for knee and right hip disabilities, a disability manifested by anemia, and multiple sclerosis that she believes had their onset while she was in service, including active duty in the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991. During her hearing before the undersigned, she testified that she experienced right hip and bilateral knee pain while on active duty, but that the RO has not been able to locate her service treatment records (STRs). The Board notes that one attempt was made in May 2009, but that attempt only included contact with the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and the Records Maintenance Center (RMC) and did not include contacting any reserve unit to which the Veteran may have last been assigned. In addition, the Veteran testified at her hearing that she had received treatment at a VA medical facility in 1991, soon after her release from active duty. These records have not been associated with the claims folder. Regarding the Veteran's testimony of right hip and bilateral knee disorders during service, the Board notes that private treatment records associated with the claims folder show that she was diagnosed with right hip bursitis and noted to have right knee crepitus in 2000. Given her testimony of hip and knee pain during service, the Board finds that the requirements for a VA medical examination have been met. See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006) (setting forth the circumstances under which a VA examination may be necessary.) Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The AMC/RO should attempt to verify the Veteran's periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty training (INACDUTRA) for the period of period of service in the U.S. Army reserves from May 1991 to February 2002. Such periods of service should be specifically set forth (month, day and year). The RO/AMC should and obtain all treatment and personnel records from all periods of ACDUTRA and INACDUTRA. The AMC/RO should obtain such records by contacting the appropriate agency, to include the Army Human Resources Command (HRC), the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), or any other appropriate agency. If any further medical or personnel records are available, the AMC/RO should procure them for the record. 2. The RO/AMC should contact the Veteran and request identification/clarification regarding all medical care providers including any VA medical facility (VAMC), from which she received treatment for the disabilities at issue since 1991. After obtaining any necessary consent, the RO/AMC should contact any private medical care provider and VAMC and request copies, for association with the claims folder, of any and all records of treatment that the Veteran received at that facility since 1991 for the disabilities at issue that are not already in the claims folder. 3. Following completion of the above, the RO/AMC should arrange for the Veteran to undergo a medical examination to ascertain the current nature and extent and etiology of her right hip and bilateral knee disorders. The examiner should be requested to render an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (probability 50 percent or more) that any right hip or bilateral knee disorder is related to service. The claims folder should be made available for review in connection with this examination. The examiner should provide complete rationale for all conclusions reached. 4. Thereafter and following any additional development deemed warranted, the RO/AMC should readjudicate the issues on appeal. If any determination remains unfavorable to the Veteran, she and her representative should be provided with a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) that addresses all relevant actions taken on the claim(s) for benefits. They should be given an opportunity to respond to the SSOC prior to returning the case to the Board for further 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). The Veteran is advised to appear and participate in any scheduled VA examination, as failure to do so may result in denial of the claim. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.655 (2012). 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). _________________________________________________ BARBARA B. COPLAND 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).