Citation Nr: 18144033
Decision Date: 10/23/18	Archive Date: 10/22/18

DOCKET NO. 14-22 854
DATE:	October 23, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a lower back disorder is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had a period of active duty service from July 1959 to June 1967, from July 1967 to September 1979.
The Board remanded the appeal of this issue in September 2017 for additional development.  As the requested development has not been fully completed the case may not move forward without prejudice to the Veteran.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998).  A Board hearing was held in June 2017.
Entitlement to service connection for a lower back disability.
In a December 2017 VA lumbar spine C&P opinion, the Board requested that the examiner opine as to the etiology of the Veteran’s lower back disorder to include whether it was related to service. The VA examiner noted in his opinion that the Veteran’s STR’s were absent complaints, diagnosis, or treatments for and lower back disorder-specifically back spasms.  Evidence of the claims file reveals that while in-service, the Veteran was treated for lumber spasms of his lower back in November 1978, not long before separation.  Taking into consideration that the examiner did not address the Veteran’s November 1978 STRs diagnosis of back spasms in-service, the Board remands the claim back to the examiner for an additional VA medical opinion.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Return the records to the prior examiner, or a similarly qualified examiner for an addendum opinion.  The examiner must be given access to all records contained in Virtual VA and VBMS, and a notation must be made that review of all records has been accomplished.  After a thorough review of the medical history, the examiner is requested to prepare a detailed opinion which answers the following question:
Taking into consideration the Veteran’s November 1978 diagnosis and treatment for lumbar spasms of his lower back, is it as likely as not (that is a probability of 50 percent or greater) that the Veteran’s lower back disorder is the result of his time in-service.  
If the examiner cannot provide any of the requested opinion, he/she must affirm that all procurable and assembled data was fully considered and a detailed rationale must be provided for why an opinion cannot be rendered.
2. The AOJ must ensure that the examiner’s report complies with this remand and answers the questions presented in the request.  The AOJ must also ensure that the examiner documents consideration of the electronic claims file, including any records contained in Virtual 
 
VA and VBMS.  If the report is insufficient, the AOJ must return it to the examiner for necessary corrective action as appropriate
 
MICHAEL D. LYON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Elliot Harris, Associate Counsel