Citation Nr: 18156261
Decision Date: 12/11/18	Archive Date: 12/07/18

DOCKET NO. 16-57 018
DATE:	December 11, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a skin disability, claimed as dermatitis, is remanded.
INTRODUCTON
The Veteran served on active duty from June 1979 to June 2009.
This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  
REASONS FOR REMAND
In denying the Veteran’s claim for service connection for a skin disability in July 2014, the RO acknowledged that the Veteran had been treated in service for dermatitis.  However, the RO denied the claim on the basis that the Veteran did not have a present skin disability.  The RO relied, in part, on results of an August 2016 VA skin examination that showed no evidence of a skin disability, and on post-service VA treatment records dated in 2015 and 2016 that do not show complaints or treatment for a skin disability.
The Board is cognizant of that fact that some skin disabilities are subject to flare-ups and that the Veteran may not have been experiencing a flare up at the time of the August 2016 VA examination.  See Ardison v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 405, 408 (1994)).  This is especially so in light of the Veteran’s written assertions in November 2016 that he experiences flare-ups usually once a year in the early spring.  
Notably, the Veteran also asserted in November 2016 that he has had continuing skin symptoms since service and has been treated with steroids, both orally and by injection.  Those identified treatment records do not appear to be on file and are relevant to establishing a current skin disability.  See Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992); see also McLain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007).
Accordingly, this claim must be remanded in order to obtain the missing, identified medical records and obtain an addendum medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the claimed skin disability.  Regarding the medical opinion, the examiner should be asked to consider the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.380.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for all post-service treatment related to his skin disability.  Make two requests for the authorized records unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile.
2. Update the claims file with VA treatment records from 2016 to present.
3. Then, obtain an addendum opinion from the August 2016 VA skin examiner or, if unavailable, another skin examiner to determine whether it is at least as likely as not (probability 50 percent or greater) that any current skin disability, to include any specific skin allergies, was incurred in or aggravated by his military service.  The examiner is asked to review the entire electronic claims file and the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.380.
4. The RO/AMC should then readjudicate the issue on appeal.  If the benefit sought on appeal is not granted in full, the RO/AMC must issue a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) and provide the Veteran an opportunity to respond.
 
 
Kristin Haddock
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Shawkey, Counsel