Citation Nr: 18146955
Decision Date: 11/05/18	Archive Date: 11/02/18

DOCKET NO. 16-22 636
DATE:	November 5, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability due to service connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded.  
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service from February 1966 to February 1968.  He served in the Republic of Vietnam and was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  
In his May 2016 Appeal to the Board (VA Form 9), the Veteran indicated that he had been in receipt of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits since March 2009.  Documentation of the Veteran’s SSA award of disability benefits, if any, and the evidence considered by the SSA in granting or denying the Veteran’s claim is not of record.  The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) duty to assist the Veteran includes an obligation to obtain the records from the SSA.  Masors v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 181, 187 188 (1992).  
Clinical documentation dated after January 2016 is not of record.  VA should obtain all relevant VA and private treatment records which could potentially be helpful in resolving the Veteran’s claims.  Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records dated after January 2016.  
2. Contact the SSA and request that it provide documentation of the Veteran’s award of disability benefits or the denial thereof and copies of all records developed in association with the decision for incorporation into the record.  
 
J. T. HUTCHESON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	R. Brunot, Associate Counsel