Citation Nr: 18152566
Decision Date: 11/23/18	Archive Date: 11/23/18

DOCKET NO. 11-06 931
DATE:	November 23, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for status-post skull fracture with torn dura and laceration of the frontal lobe with residual frontal skull paresthesia and cephalgia (head injury residuals) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from July 1978 to November 2009. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a March 2010 rating decision from a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional office (RO). 
The Veteran was afforded a Board hearing before an Acting Veterans Law Judge in June 2014, but the transcript was indecipherable.  In September 2015, the Board remanded the case to afford the Veteran with a new Board hearing, and the Veteran was afforded a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in October 2016.  The transcript of this hearing has been associated with the claims file. 
This matter was most recently before the Board in August 2017.  At that time, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for a compensable rating. The Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeal for Veterans Claims (Court).  In April 2018, the Court approved a Joint Motion for Partial Remand, and vacated the August 2017 decision with regard to the issue of a compensable rating for residuals of a head injury, and remanded that issue back to the Board. 
Status-Post Skull Fracture with Torn Dura and Laceration of the Frontal Lobe with Residual Frontal Skull Paresthesia and Cephalgia
A remand is necessary to with regard to this matter in order to provide the Veteran with a new examination.  While the Veteran was provided an examination in September 2010, the examination was inconclusive in its evaluation of the Veteran’s symptoms due to inconsistent and suboptimal testing results.  As such the examination is not adequate for evaluation purposes.  Therefore, a remand for a new examination is warranted. 
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
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Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected status-post skull fracture with torn dura and laceration of the frontal lobe with residual frontal skull paresthesia and cephalgia.  The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria.
 
K. J. ALIBRANDO
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Reed, Associate Counsel