Citation Nr: 18146081
Decision Date: 10/30/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 10-49 395
DATE:	October 30, 2018
REMANDED
The issue of entitlement to service connection for type II diabetes mellitus is remanded.
 
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served in the United States Army from February 1978 to February 2002.
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of an October 2009 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Roanoke, Virginia.  
In September 2016, the Board remanded this claim because it was determined that given the Veteran’s documented increase in glucose levels toward the end of his service, a VA examination was necessary to determine whether the Veteran’s diabetes had its onset during, or is otherwise etiologically attributable to his period of service.  
A VA examination was performed in January 2017. In a June 2017 decision, the Board denied service connection for type II diabetes mellitus. The Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims (the Court). In June 2018, the Court granted a joint motion for remand, in which the parties agreed that the January 2017 VA examination and opinion was inadequate, in that it failed to discuss the significance of the Veteran’s rising glucose levels during service, to include a glucose level of 104 mg/dl at service separation. 
1. The issue of entitlement to service connection for type II diabetes mellitus is remanded.
In light of the concerns raised in the JMR, this appeal must again be remanded. 
The September 2016 remand specifically directed the VA examiner to discuss the significance of the Veteran’s rising glucose levels during service, and the VA examiner acknowledged that issue was to be discussed. However, the VA examiner omitted that discussion. A remand confers on the claimant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand order and imposes upon the VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the remand. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). 
The parties agreed that the Board had erred by failing to ensure substantial compliance with a prior remand order. The Court remanded the case to the Board for action consistent with the terms of the joint motion for remand.
Therefore, a remand is necessary to provide the Veteran a new VA examination and opinion consistent with the Court’s order.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding the following question:
Whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e. there is a 50 percent probability) that the Veteran’s diabetes had its onset during service or is otherwise traceable thereto.  In providing this opinion, the VA examiner must discuss the significance of the Veteran’s rising glucose levels during service, to include a glucose level of 104 mg/dl at service separation.
 
C. BOSELY
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. Temple, Associate Counsel