Citation Nr: 18148970 Decision Date: 11/08/18 Archive Date: 11/08/18 DOCKET NO. 16-35 964A DATE: November 8, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability is remanded. Entitlement to a supraventricular arrhythmia (also claimed as a heart condition), to include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active military service from November 1968 to July 1971. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from the October 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Manchester, New Hampshire. Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that due process is followed and that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran’s claim so that he is afforded every possible consideration. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2017). 1. Entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability is remanded. The Veteran contends that his current hip disability is related to his military service. Specifically, the Veteran has stated throughout the record that he injured himself while in Vietnam but because injuries were routinely not reported in the field, his service treatment records are absent of any complaints or treatment for a hip injury. The Board notes that an April 2017 VA treatment note states that a right hip x-ray showed mild arthritis in the hip joint, demonstrating a current disability. However, the Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of entitlement to service connection for a right hip disability because no VA examiner has opined whether or not this disability is related to his military service. Therefore, a remand is warranted for the Veteran to undergo a VA hip examination. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a skin and heart disability, to include as due to herbicide exposure, are remanded. The Veteran contends that his skin and heart conditions are related to his military service, to include herbicide exposure while serving in Vietnam. The Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issues of entitlement to service connection for a skin and heart condition because no VA examiner has opined whether or not these disabilities are related to his military service. Therefore, a remand is warranted for the Veteran to undergo a VA examination regarding each disability. Additionally, even though the Veteran is not entitled to service connection on the basis of the presumption in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309, VA must still consider whether the Veteran’s skin and heart conditions are causally linked to service on a direct basis, to include herbicide exposure. Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1044 (Fed. Cir. 1994), citing 38 U.S.C. §§ 1113 (b),1116; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Upon remand, VA should obtain an examination and opinion to consider whether the Veteran’s skin and heart conditions are related to herbicide exposure. Since the claims file is being remanded, it should be updated to include any outstanding VA treatment records. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2); see also Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and associate those documents with the Veteran’s claims file. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination to provide an opinion as to the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s right hip disability, heart condition, and skin condition that have been present during the period on appeal. After reviewing the record, to include the Veteran’s lay testimony, the examiner is asked to address the following: a) Is it at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater), that the Veteran’s right hip disability, was caused by service, or is otherwise related to the Veteran’s military service? b) Is it at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater), that the Veteran’s skin condition, was caused by service, or is otherwise related to the Veteran’s military service, to include herbicide exposure? c) Is it at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater), that the Veteran’s heart condition, was caused by service, or is otherwise related to the Veteran’s military service, to include herbicide exposure? All opinions provided must be thoroughly explained and an adequate rationale for any conclusions reached must be provided. If any requested opinion cannot be provided without resort to speculation, the medical professional should state and explain why an opinion cannot be provided without resort to speculation. 3. Following completion of the above, and a review of any additional evidence received, the RO should also undertake any other development it deems to be necessary, to include, if warranted, an addendum medical opinion which considers any newly received evidence. MICHAEL MARTIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Mountford, Associate Counsel