Citation Nr: 18149857 Decision Date: 11/13/18 Archive Date: 11/13/18 DOCKET NO. 16-37 610 DATE: November 13, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits, as due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from October 1980 to May 1981, and from February 1982 to April 1984. Entitlement to service connection for a disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits, as due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, is remanded. Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran’s claims for the remaining issues on appeal. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (2014); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2018). For a veteran to be entitled to the presumption of service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(1)(7), he must have had no less than 30 days of service at Camp Lejeune during the period beginning on August 1, 1953, and ending on December 31, 1987 and be diagnosed with any of the following eight diseases: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or Parkinson’s disease. The Veteran contends he has a disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits that is due to exposure to contaminated water during his service at Camp Lejeune. See December 2017 Statement. VA has found, pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(7), that the Veteran was exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. See August 2014 Rating Decision. The Board notes the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination to determine if there is a relationship between his service and his claimed disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits. See McClendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006); Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039 (1994). Review of the record shows that in June 2016 the Veteran informed VA that evidence of his claimed disability was contained in Social Security Administration (SSA) records and that he was in receipt of disability benefits. See June 2016 Correspondence. The Board finds additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the appeal, to include obtaining records from SSA for disability benefits to the Veteran and obtaining a VA examination and opinion. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A (2014); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2018); Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2010). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Request all documents pertaining to any application by the Veteran for SSA disability benefits, including any decisions and/or determinations. If such records cannot be located, the attempts that were made must be specifically documented and reported to the Veteran. 3.Then, schedule the Veteran for an examination with an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits. The entire claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to the examiner for review. The examiner must provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any currently diagnosed disability characterized by neurobehavioral deficits began during active service, or is related to an incident of service, to include conceded exposure to contaminated water from Camp Lejeune. The examiner must consider the December 2017 statement and affidavit, as well as the December 2014 VA opinion. The examiner must provide the rationale for all proffered opinions. If the examiner is unable to provide any required opinion, he or she should explain why. If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he or she shall provide a complete explanation as to why this is so. If the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, the examiner should identify the additional information that is needed. REBECCA N. POULSON Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Trickey