Citation Nr: 18152810 Decision Date: 11/27/18 Archive Date: 11/26/18 DOCKET NO. 16-20 720 DATE: November 27, 2018 ORDER New and material evidence has been submitted and the claim of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity due to Agent Orange is reopened. New and material evidence has been submitted and the claim of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity due to Agent Orange is reopened. New and material evidence has been submitted and the claim of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity due to Agent Orange is reopened. New and material evidence has been submitted and the claim of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity due to Agent Orange is reopened. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity due to Agent Orange is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity due to Agent Orange is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity due to Agent Orange is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity due to Agent Orange is remanded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. A May 2011 rating decision denied the Veteran’s claims of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities and right and left lower extremities, because the evidence did not show diagnoses of peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities; the Veteran did not appeal the denials or submit new and material evidence within a year of the decision, and the May 2011 decision became final. 2. Evidence received since the May 2011 rating decision relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim, and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities and right and left lower extremities. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. New and material evidence has been received, and the claim of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity due to Agent Orange, is reopened. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. 2. New and material evidence has been received, and the claim of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity due to Agent Orange, is reopened. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. 3. New and material evidence has been received, and the claim of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity due to Agent Orange, is reopened. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. 4. New and material evidence has been received, and the claim of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity due to Agent Orange, is reopened. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5108, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active military service from November 1963 to November 1965. New and Material Evidence Since the May 2011 rating decision became final for the claims of service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities and right and left lower extremities, additional evidence has been associated with the Veteran’s claims file. The evidence includes Social Security Administration (SSA) administrative and medical records, received in February 2012, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient treatment records from September 2011 to September 2018. SSA medical records includes a January 1999 private report by an orthopedic center, which reveals the Veteran had swelling dorsally and pain when he tried to make a fist. He had numbness in his fingers on the radial side of his hand, and in the thumb and index fingers. In a January 1999 Disability Determination Medical Examination, the Veteran reported symptoms of stiffness, tingling and numbness in his hands bilaterally and pain that radiated up and down his legs and from his back into his legs. A VA outpatient treatment record dated in February 2008 shows the Veteran had pain of the left neck that radiated down the left arm to the 4th and 5th digits. He had tingling in both feet intermittently, but it recurred frequently. This evidence is “new and material” in that it was not before agency decision makers at the time of the May 2011 decision that denied service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities and right and left lower extremities on the basis that peripheral neuropathy or comparable symptomatology of the upper and lower extremities had not been diagnosed. The evidence is not cumulative of evidence previously of record and relates to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the claim. This evidence raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. See Shade v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 110, 117 (2010). Accordingly, the criteria for reopening the service connection claims for peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities and right and left lower extremities are met, and to this extent only the appeal is granted. See 38 U.S.C. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. The underlying service connection claims will be addressed de novo on remand. REASONS FOR REMAND Additional development is necessary before further adjudication of these claims. The Veteran served in the Army Reserve from November 1972 to February 1992. Service treatment records contain incomplete records within the period the Veteran served in the Army Reserve. On remand, the RO should ensure that complete U.S. Army Reserves medical treatment records are obtained for the Veteran in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(1). A January 1997 private treatment record notes the Veteran was “on workman’s comp now.” An October 1997 private medical record reveals he was evaluated for worker’s compensation for low back and lower extremity pain. A review of the claims file does not show that the worker’s compensation records have been requested. On remand, efforts to obtain worker’s compensation records must be made. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Request and associate with the claims file the Veteran’s U. S. Army Reserve medical treatment records in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(1). If any of the requested records are unavailable and it is determined that further attempts to obtain those records would be futile, such should be noted in a formal finding of unavailability that is associated with the claims file, and the Veteran and his representative should be so notified. 2. Obtain records related to the Veteran’s worker’s compensation claim; secure the proper authorizations where necessary. All attempts to secure this evidence must be documented in the claims file, and if, after making reasonable efforts to obtain named records, they are not able to be secured, provide the required notice and opportunity to respond to the Veteran and his representative. 3. Complete any additional development deemed necessary on account of newly received evidence, possibly to include a new VA examination; this is left to the discretion of the Agency of Original Jurisdiction. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Young, Counsel