Citation Nr: 1330396 Decision Date: 09/23/13 Archive Date: 09/30/13 DOCKET NO. 10-08 524 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Waco, Texas THE ISSUE Entitlement to an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for the residuals of a fracture of the pelvis with degenerative joint disease of the left hip. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K. Osegueda, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active service from August 1973 to July 1993. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2009 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas. In that rating decision, the RO denied an increased evaluation for the pelvis and left hip disability and continued a 10 percent evaluation. In the February 2009 rating decision, the RO also denied service connection for a low back disorder. Although the Veteran perfected an appeal of this denial, in an October 2012 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine and assigned a 10 percent evaluation from June 19, 2008, and a 40 percent evaluation from June 21, 2012. The Veteran has not disagreed with that decision. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (where an appealed claim for service connection is granted during the pendency of the appeal, a second Notice of Disagreement must thereafter be timely filed to initiate appellate review of "downstream" issues such as the compensation level assigned for the disability or the effective date of service connection). Therefore, the issue no longer remains on appeal, and further consideration is unnecessary. In addition to the paper claims file, there are Virtual VA and Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) paperless files associated with the Veteran's case. A review of the documents in the Virtual VA paperless claims file reveals VA treatment notes and an August 2013 brief submitted by the Veteran's representative relevant to the issue on appeal. 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 law provides that VA shall make reasonable efforts to notify a claimant of the evidence necessary to substantiate a claim and requires VA to assist a claimant in obtaining that evidence. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5103, 5103A (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. In a November 2011 VA treatment note, the Veteran reported that he received monthly Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits. However, it does not appear that any attempt has been made to obtain a copy of the SSA decision to grant benefits or the records upon which a decision was based. The Board is also unable to ascertain whether the SSA records may pertain to the pelvis and left hip disability. The Board does note that, in an April 2010 VA treatment note, the Veteran reported that he was unable to work for approximately one year due to pain in his pelvic region. Therefore, efforts to obtain the Veteran's SSA records should be made pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2). Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO/AMC should obtain a copy of the decision to grant SSA benefits to the Veteran and the records upon which that decision was based and associate them with the claims file. If the search for such records has negative results, the claims file must be properly documented as to the unavailability of those records. 2. After completing the above action, the RO/AMC should conduct any other development as may be indicated by a response received as a consequence of the action taken in the preceding paragraph. Further development may include an additional VA examination. 3. When the development requested has been completed, the case should be reviewed by the RO/AMC on the basis of all additional evidence. If the benefits sought are not granted, the Veteran and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter 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). _________________________________________________ JESSICA J. WILLS 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).