Citation Nr: 18141086
Decision Date: 10/09/18	Archive Date: 10/09/18

DOCKET NO. 16-29 736
DATE:	October 9, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for pleural plaques is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from June 1965 to June 1968, and from September 1968 to January 1970.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee.
A review of the evidence of record demonstrates that additional VA treatment records were associated with the claims after the April 2016 statement of the case. As these documents were submitted by VA, and because a waiver of AOJ consideration has not been provided by the Veteran, a remand is warranted in order to allow the AOJ to review this evidence and issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case.  See generally Section 501 of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, Public Law 112-154 (amending 38 U.S.C. § 7105 by adding new paragraph (e)). 
Moreover, the Veteran was last afforded a VA respiratory examination in June 2014, over four years ago.  VA treatment records dated in October 2017 indicate that the Veteran’s service-connected respiratory disability may have worsened since 2014.  For example, during the October 2017 VA treatment session, the Veteran reported being more fatigued over the past 4 weeks.  He also stated that his blood pressure was much harder to control over the past several weeks and that he had increased sputum production.  As such, a new examination is required to assist in determining the current severity of the Veteran’s disability.   
The matter is REMANDED for the following actions:
1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records dated to the present.
2. Schedule an appropriate VA examination to determine the severity of the Veteran’s service-connected pleural plaques.  All necessary diagnostic testing and evaluation should be performed, and all clinical findings reported in detail.  
3. Then, readjudicate the claim on appeal. 
 
JEBBY RASPUTNIS
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	R. Casadei, Counsel