Citation Nr: 18153562
Decision Date: 11/28/18	Archive Date: 11/27/18

DOCKET NO. 17-16 338
DATE:	November 28, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an effective date prior to August 29, 2005, for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.
(The issues of entitlement to service connection for headaches and entitlement to higher ratings for right shoulder, low back, and residuals of a tonsillectomy are addressed in a separate decision, as the Veteran had a hearing concerning those issues with a different Veterans Law Judge.  See BVA Directive 8430, Board of Veterans’ Appeals, Decision Preparation and Processing, 14(c)(9)(b).)
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1986 to July 1991.  He testified at a hearing before the undersigned in April 2015.  
In a concurrently issued decision, the Veteran’s other issues on appeal (entitlement to service connection for headaches and entitlement to higher ratings for right shoulder, low back, and residuals of a tonsillectomy) are being remanded to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction for further development.  Since the resolution of these claims may impact the Veteran’s combined total disability rating, the issues are inextricably intertwined and the claim of entitlement to an effective date prior to August 29, 2005, for a TDIU, must be held in abeyance.  See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991) (holding that where a decision on one issue would have a “significant impact” upon another, and that impact in turn could render any appellate review on the other claim meaningless and a waste of judicial resources, the two claims are inextricably intertwined).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
After completing all actions ordered by the Board in the concurrently issued November 2018 remand and adjudicating any remaining pending claims, readjudicate the issue of entitlement to an effective date prior to August 29, 2005, for a TDIU.

 
Nathan Kroes
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Layton, Counsel