Citation Nr: 18140333
Decision Date: 10/03/18	Archive Date: 10/02/18

DOCKET NO. 16-33 341
DATE:	October 3, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 3, 2014 for the grant of service connection for right shoulder acromioclavicular joint separation (major) is remanded.
Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 3, 2014 for the grant of service connection for right shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff (major) is remanded.
Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 3, 2014 for the grant of service connection for surgical scars as secondary to the service-connected disability of right shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff (major) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service in the United States Air Force from July 1968 to June 1972.  
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Augusta, Maine. The Veteran submitted a notice of disagreement later in November 2014. A statement of the case was issued in May 2016. The Veteran perfected a timely substantive appeal via VA Form 9 in June 2016.
The Veteran submitted a Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) opt-in form in May 2018. However, the claims at issue herein are not eligible for RAMP as they had already been activated at the Board in October 2016. Accordingly, adjudication of these issues may continue pursuant to current appeals procedures.
1. Entitlement to an effective date prior to June 3, 2014, for right shoulder acromioclavicular joint separation (major), right shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff (major), and surgical scars is remanded.
Evidence indicates that there may be outstanding relevant VA treatment records.  
At the hearing before the Board in June 2017, the Veteran reported that he received treatment for his right shoulder from the Maryland VA Health Care system in 1997. 
Furthermore, the record contains a letter from the Veteran’s representative in August 1997 contending that treatment record from the Maryland VA Health Care System would contain relevant information. Then in October 1997, the representative wrote that the Veteran had received medical treatment and evaluation at the Baltimore VA Medical Center within the last 60 days.
Additionally, the claims file contains a February 1978 statement from the Veteran alleging treatment for arthritis by rheumatologists at VA facilities in St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. 
However, the record contains VA treatment records from July 1998 onward only. It is unclear whether efforts have been made to obtain the identified records prior to that date. 
Any VA treatment records are within VA’s constructive possession, and are considered potentially relevant to the issues on appeal. A remand is required to allow VA to obtain them.
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records for the Veteran, including:
(a.) Records identified in the February 1978 statement from the Veteran alleging treatment by rheumatologists at VA facilities in St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. 
(b.) Records identified in the August and October 1997 letters alleging treatment at the Baltimore VA Medical Center and Maryland VA Health Care System. 
(c.) 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.  
 
TANYA SMITH
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Jamison, Elizabeth G.