Citation Nr: 18153960
Decision Date: 11/28/18	Archive Date: 11/28/18

DOCKET NO. 14-42 332
DATE:	November 28, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for discoid lupus, to include as due to exposure to herbicides, is remanded.  
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served honorably in the United States Air Force from June 1968 to March 1973.  
Entitlement to service connection for discoid lupus, to include as due to exposure to herbicides, is remanded.
The Veteran maintains that she developed discoid lupus due to exposure to Agent Orange during her service at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.  See May 2011 Correspondence. 
The Veteran’s medical evidence of record reflects a current diagnosis of discoid lupus, and her military personnel records confirm service at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.  See July 2011 VA Examination; see also December 2014 DD Form 214.
In the present case, the Veteran has stated that while she was stationed in Okinawa, Japan she would work with a crew that sprayed a substance along the flight line of the Naha Air Base to keep the flight line clear.  The Veteran’s duties also included collecting trash in this area where the substance was applied.  The Veteran states that she believes the substance was Agent Orange because there were orange bands around the gallon drums that contained this substance.  See May 2011 Correspondence.
Given the assertions raised by the Veteran, and in light of her currently available service records, the matter must be remanded in order for additional inquiry into potential herbicide agent exposure, to include Agent Orange.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1.  Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file. 
2.  After obtaining the necessary authorization from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the claims file any identified relevant private medical records.  All attempts to secure these records must be documented in the record.  If any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified of such in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).
3.  The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) should ask the Veteran to provide the approximate dates, location, and nature of the alleged herbicide exposure in Okinawa, Japan, including the VBMS AO - Exposure General Notice paragraph.  The AOJ did not send this notice letter to the Veteran. 
4.  The AOJ should refer the case to the Joint Services and Research Center (JSRRC) Coordinator to make a formal finding concerning the alleged exposure to herbicides for the Veteran. 
If exposure to herbicide agents is found, schedule the Veteran for an examination with an appropriate medical professional to determine a diagnosis, onset, and etiology of the Veteran’s discoid lupus disability.  The examiner must review the claims file, including any private treatment records.  Following consideration of the entirety of the record and the examination, the examiner should:
Provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a fifty percent or better probability) that the diagnosed discoid lupus disability is related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including possible exposure to herbicides in Okinawa, Japan.
A complete rationale for any opinion expressed must be provided.  An examiner’s report that he or she cannot provide an opinion without resort to speculation is inadequate unless the examiner provides a rationale for that statement.  As such, if the examiner is unable to offer an opinion, it is essential that the examiner provide a rationale for the conclusion that an opinion could not be provided without resort to speculation, together with a statement as to whether there is additional evidence that could enable an opinion to be provided or whether the inability to provide the opinion is based on the limits of medical knowledge.
 
JENNIFER HWA
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. Voight, Associate Counsel