Citation Nr: 18156972 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/11/18 DOCKET NO. 12-14 994 DATE: December 11, 2018 REMANDED Service connection for a prostate disability is remanded. Service connection for chronic kidney disease is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1967 to November 1969 (including service in Vietnam) and from December 1971 to March 1972. These matters were originally before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2010 rating decision. In May 2016, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge of the Board. A transcript of the hearing is of record. In September 2016, the Board issued a decision that (in pertinent part) denied service connection for chronic kidney disease and for a prostate disability. The Veteran appealed those portions of the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In June 2017, the Court issued an Order that (in pertinent part) vacated the September 2016 Board decision denying service connection for those issues, and remanded those matters for re-adjudication consistent with instructions outlined in a June 2017 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (Joint Motion) by the parties. In September 2017, the Board remanded this matter for the requested development, i.e., association of additional VA treatment records with the claims file. Additionally, the Board notes the Veteran has filed a substantive appeal (VA Form 9) for service connection for vascular disease (stroke) and for chloracne. On his June 2017 VA Form 9, he requested to testify at a videoconference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge. The record reflects that the Veteran has been placed on a list of veterans waiting to appear for a videoconference hearing, and he was most recently notified of this status in a September 2018 letter. Because these issues cannot be merged with the issues presently before the Board into a single appeal without restarting the hearing scheduling process (and thereby causing further delays), these issues will not be addressed by the Board here. The Veteran will receive notice from the RO of the date, time, and location of his requested hearing on these issues. 1. Service connection for a prostate disability is remanded. Unfortunately, despite the additional and regrettable delay, yet another remand is required to afford the Veteran every possible consideration. If the Veteran is diagnosed with prostate cancer, service connection would be granted on a presumptive basis due to the Veteran’s service in Vietnam and associated presumptive herbicide agent exposure. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). In a September 2016 VA treatment record, the Veteran’s medical team recommended an MRI fusion biopsy to confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer after an August 2016 MRI report noted probable prostate adenocarcinoma. On remand, VA treatment records through September 2017 were added to the claims file. The most VA recent record in the claims file (September 5, 2017) notes that the Veteran planned to proceed with the MRI fusion biopsy and had scheduled an appointment with urology. In short, the Board’s review of the record indicates it would be premature to deny service connection (as the Board would otherwise be required to do based on the existing evidence) because the newly obtained records continue to indicate that the Veteran may have a prostate disability (prostate cancer), for which service connection could be granted. 2. Service connection for chronic kidney disease is remanded. This issue is remanded because additional VA treatment records associated with the claims file on remand could be relevant to this claim. The Board is unable to grant the claim at this time because the evidence of record does not establish a causal link (nexus) between the Veteran’s service and his well-documented chronic kidney disease. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all updated records of VA treatment to specifically include records from the Birmingham VAMC from September 2017 to present. 2. Send the Veteran a letter asking him to identify all treatment providers for the issues on appeal, and to authorize VA to obtain available records for association with the claims file. Please inform the Veteran that any evidence showing diagnosed prostate cancer should be submitted as soon as possible to VA. [CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE] 3. The AOJ should then review the record, ensure that all development is completed (AND arrange for any further development suggested by additional evidence received) (WITH SPECIFIC CONSIDERATION of any evidence of prostate cancer). VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD N. Robinson, Associate Counsel