Citation Nr: 18153838 Decision Date: 11/28/18 Archive Date: 11/28/18 DOCKET NO. 17-54 160 DATE: November 28, 2018 REMANDED The issue of entitlement to special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance or at the housebound rate is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from August 1982 to April 2005. He served in Southwest Asia. The issue of special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance or at the housebound rate is remanded. The Veteran asserts that special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance or at the housebound rate is warranted as his service connected disabilities render him unable to perform his activities of daily living without the assistance of another person. He states that he has not been afforded a recent Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) examination and requests that one be scheduled. Service connection is currently in effect for PTSD rated as 50 percent disabling; thoracolumbar spine intervertebral disc syndrome and degenerative joint disease rated as 40 percent disabling; cervical spine intervertebral disc syndrome and degenerative joint disease rated as 30 percent disabling; right upper extremity radiculopathy rated as 20 percent disabling; left upper extremity radiculopathy rated as 20 percent disabling; right lower extremity radiculopathy rated as 10 percent disabling; left lower extremity radiculopathy rated as 10 percent disabling; right knee chondromalacia with degenerative joint disease rated as 10 percent disabling; left knee chondromalacia with degenerative joint disease rated as 10 percent disabling; right leg compartment syndrome rated as 10 percent disabling; left leg compartment syndrome rated as 10 percent disabling; tinnitus rated as 10 percent disabling; right hallux valgus with bunion formation rated as noncompensable; left hallux valgus with bunion formation rated as noncompensable; hypertension rated as noncompensable; and pseudofolliculitis barbae rated as noncompensable. The Veteran was last afforded a VA examination to determine housebound status and/or the permanent need for regular aid and attendance of another person in April 2015. VA’s duty to assist includes, in appropriate cases, the duty to conduct a thorough and contemporaneous medical examination which is accurate and fully descriptive. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006); Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 121, 124 (1991). Given the nature of the service connected disabilities and the passage of over three years since the April 2015 VA examination, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) finds that further VA evaluation is needed to determine the current nature and severity of the service connected disabilities and their effect on the Veteran’s abilities to perform his activities of daily living. Clinical documentation dated after April 2016 is not of record. VA should obtain all relevant VA and private treatment records which could potentially be helpful in resolving the Veteran’s claim. Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for each private healthcare provider who has treated him for the service connected disabilities. Make two requests for the authorized records from all identified healthcare providers unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records dated after April 2016. 3. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance. The examiner must review the record and should note that review in the report. A rationale for all opinions should be provided. J. Rutkin Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. T. Hutcheson, Counsel