Citation Nr: 18155585
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/04/18

DOCKET NO. 16-42 908
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to restoration of a 100 percent rating for service-connected prostate cancer from January 1, 2015, is remanded.
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for voiding dysfunction resulting from prostate cancer is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active air service from October 1963 to October 1967. 
The Veteran died in July 2017.  The Veteran’s surviving spouse has been properly substituted as the appellant in this case.  

These matters come to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Reno, Nevada.
The Board finds that additional development is required before the claims on appeal are decided.  
Entitlement to restoration of a 100 percent rating for service-connected prostate cancer from January 1, 2015.
The October 2014 rating decision reduced the Veteran's assigned rating for prostate cancer from 100 percent to 20 percent effective January 1, 2015, based on a finding that he no longer had active cancer and that the disability would be rated based on post-cancer residuals.  In March 2015, the Veteran submitted a timely notice of disagreement with that decision, reporting that his rating should not have been reduced as he was not cancer free.  A review of the record shows that the Veteran was not issues a statement of the case in response to his notice of disagreement.  Where a notice of disagreement has been filed with regard to an issue, and a statement of the case has not been issued, the appropriate Board action is to remand the issue for issuance of a statement of the case.  Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238 (1999).
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for voiding dysfunction is remanded.
The issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for voiding dysfunction is inextricably intertwined with the issue of restoration of the 100 percent rating for prostate cancer.  The appropriate remedy where a pending claim is inextricably intertwined with a claim currently on appeal is to remand the claim on appeal pending the adjudication of the inextricably intertwined claim.  Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991). 
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Issue a statement of the case on the issue of entitlement to restoration of a 100 percent rating for prostate cancer from January 1, 2015.  Inform the appellant of the requirements to perfect an appeal.  If the appellant perfects an appeal, return the issue to the Board. 
2. Then, readjudicate the appeal.  If a decision is adverse to the appellant, issue a supplemental statement of the case and allow appropriate time for response.  Then, return the case to the Board.
 
Kristin Haddock
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Christina Quant, Law Clerk