Citation Nr: 18152870
Decision Date: 11/26/18	Archive Date: 11/26/18

DOCKET NO. 16-32 400
DATE:	November 26, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an increased rating for left lower extremity sciatica is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from April 1981 to April 1985.
This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Atlanta, Georgia.  By that rating action, the RO granted service connection for sciatica of the left lower extremity as secondary to the service-connected disability of degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine.  An initial 10 percent disability rating was assigned, effective March 15, 2013, the date VA received the Veteran’s initial claim for compensation for this disability.  The Veteran appealed the May 2014 rating action and the RO’s determination therein to the Board. 
Entitlement to an increased rating for left lower extremity sciatica is remanded.
The Board regrets the additional delay; however, 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.  Specifically, a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) is required, but was not provided.  38 C.F.R. §§ 19.31, 20.904(a)(2).  The agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) is required to furnish the Veteran and her representative an SSOC when additional pertinent evidence is received after a statement of the case (SOC) or the most recent SSOC has been issued.  Id.
A review of the record shows that the AOJ did not issue an SSOC, re-adjudicating the Veteran’s increased rating claim for her left lower extremity sciatica, after new evidence was added to the record since the May 2016 SOC was done.  Specifically, the AOJ added the Veteran’s July 2016 VA examination to the record, but did not issue an SSOC to reflect the addition of this new evidence.  
As the AOJ did not prepare an SSOC in consideration of the July 2016 VA examination, a remand is necessary to afford the Veteran procedural due process.  Here, due process requires sending the Veteran an SSOC that addresses the July 2016 VA exam; thus, giving her the opportunity to respond.  As such, the Veteran is not deprived of the opportunity to prevail at the AOJ level.
Accordingly, the matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. The AOJ should review the record to include the July 2016 VA examination and other pertinent evidence in the claims file that was not addressed in the May 2016 SOC. 
(Continued on the next page)
 
2. Thereafter, readjudicate the issues on appeal.  If the benefits sought on appeal remain denied, issue an SSOC and provide the Veteran and her representative with an opportunity to respond.  Then return the case to the Board, if otherwise in order.
 
THOMAS H. O'SHAY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Trowers, Associate Counsel