Citation Nr: 18157796
Decision Date: 12/13/18	Archive Date: 12/13/18

DOCKET NO. 17-22 735
DATE:	December 13, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability is remanded.
The petition to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for left foot tarsal syndrome based on the receipt of new and material evidence is remanded.  
Entitlement to service connection for right foot tarsal syndrome is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy, bilateral upper extremities is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy, bilateral lower extremities is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from December 1983 to July 1984.
These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2013 rating decision by the Oakland, California Regional Office (RO) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.   
In November 2017, the Veteran submitted a completed and signed VA 21-4142 and a 21-4141a, authorizing VA to obtain specified private medical records.  The RO submitted these authorizations to the Private Medical Records Retrieval Center, which in November 2017 rejected the request.  The records had to be requested via the traditional process.  It does not appear any further action was taken to obtain the relevant private records, however. VA is required to assist a claimant by taking all reasonable action in obtaining medical records that are necessary to decide a claim.  38 U.S.C. §§ 5103, 5103A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.159.
Accordingly, the matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Take the necessary steps to obtain the medical records identified in the November 2017 VA 21-4142, to include securing updated, valid releases.
2. Upon completion of the above, and any additional development deemed appropriate, readjudicate the remanded issues.  If the benefits sought remain denied, the Veteran should be provided with a supplemental statement of the case.  The case should then be returned to the Board for appellate review if otherwise in order.  
 
WILLIAM H. DONNELLY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. M. Lunger, Associate Counsel