Citation Nr: 1610803 Decision Date: 03/16/16 Archive Date: 03/23/16 DOCKET NO. 08-32 450 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi THE ISSUE Entitlement to an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for allergic rhinitis. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. Rideout, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active duty service from June 1983 to December 1990. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2007 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Jackson, Mississippi. The Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at the RO in April 2015. A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the claims file and the Veteran's claim is back before the Board for appellate review. This appeal was processed using Virtual VA and the Veterans Benefits Management System paperless claims processing system. Accordingly, any future consideration of this Veteran's case should take into consideration the existence of this electronic record. The appeal is REMANDED to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required. REMAND The Board finds that a remand for further development is necessary in this case. When a claimant asserts that the severity of a disability has increased since the most recent rating examination, an additional examination is appropriate. VAOPGCPREC 11-95 (April 7, 1995); Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997); Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377 (1994). The Veteran contends that his last VA examination of record no longer reflects his current disability. That examination was conducted in January 2008 and is over eight years old. Although the Veteran underwent a VA respiratory examination in September 2011, that examination was performed in connection with another claim and primarily addressed the Veteran's asthma. Further, the Veteran's testimony at the Board hearing indicates that his condition has worsened since the 2011 examination. As such, the Board finds that the Veteran should be afforded a new examination. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the appropriate VA Medical Centers, to include the Memphis, Tennessee and Jackson, Mississippi VAMCs, and obtain and associate with the claims file all outstanding records of treatment. If any requested records are not available, or the search for any such records otherwise yields negative results, that fact must clearly be documented in the claims file. Efforts to obtain these records must continue until it is determined that they do not exist or that further attempts to obtain them would be futile. The non-existence or unavailability of such records must be verified and this should be documented for the record. Required notice must be provided to the Veteran and his or her representative. 2. Contact the Veteran and afford him the opportunity to identify by name, address and dates of treatment or examination any relevant medical records. Subsequently, and after securing the proper authorizations where necessary, make arrangements to obtain all the records of treatment or examination from all the sources listed by the Veteran which are not already on file, to include all updated VA medical records. All information obtained must be made part of the paper or electronic file. All attempts to secure this evidence must be documented in the claims file. If, after making reasonable efforts, the records cannot be obtained, notify the Veteran and his representative and (a) identify the specific records that cannot be obtained; (b) briefly explain the efforts made to obtain those records; and (c) describe any further action to be taken with respect to the claim. The Veteran must then be given an opportunity to respond. 3. After the above development has been completed and all records associated with the claims file, the Veteran must be afforded a VA examination to determine the severity and manifestation of the Veteran's service-connected allergic rhinitis. Any and all studies, tests, and evaluations deemed necessary by the examiner should be performed. The examiner is requested to review all pertinent records associated with the claims file, including the Veteran's service treatment records, post-service medical records, and assertions. An explanation for all opinions expressed must be provided. The examiner must assess the allergic rhinitis and offer an opinion as the severity and manifestation of the disorder, to include whether there are polyps present and whether there is any obstruction of the nasal passage. If obstruction is found, the examiner should record the percentage of such obstruction and whether the blockage occurs on one or both sides of the nasal passage. The examiner should also comment on the functional impairment caused by the Veteran's allergic rhinitis. The examiner must delineate all symptoms due to the allergic rhinitis and to the separately service-connected asthma. 4. Notify the Veteran that it is his responsibility to report for any scheduled examination and to cooperate in the development of the claim, and that the consequences for failure to report for a VA examination without good cause may include denial of the claim. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.158, 3.655. In the event that the Veteran does not report for any scheduled examination, documentation must be obtained which shows that notice scheduling the examination was sent to the last known address. It must also be indicated whether any notice that was sent was returned as undeliverable. 5. After completing the above actions, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraphs, the Veteran's claim should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. If the claim remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be issued a supplemental statement of the case, and an appropriate period of time should be allowed for response. 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 2014). _________________________________________________ K. MILLIKAN Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2014), 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) (2015).