Citation Nr: 18158124 Decision Date: 12/14/18 Archive Date: 12/14/18 DOCKET NO. 16-12 746 DATE: December 14, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for residuals of prostate cancer to include whether the reduction of the rating for prostate cancer from 100 percent to 20 percent, effective April 1, 2015, was proper is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1968 to October 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision of a Regional Office (RO) of then the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The January 2015 rating decision reduced the Veteran’s rating for adenocarcinoma of the prostate from 100 percent to 20 percent disabling, effective April 1, 2015. The Veteran appeared at a hearing before the undersigned in April 2016. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for residuals of prostate cancer, to include whether the reduction of the rating for prostate cancer from 100 percent to 20 percent, effective April 1, 2015, was proper is remanded. Prostate cancer is rated under 38 C.F.R. § 4.115b, Diagnostic Code 7528. Under Diagnostic Code 7528, following the cessation of surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy, or another therapeutic procedure, a rating of 100 percent shall be assigned and shall continue with a mandatory VA examination at the expiration of six months. Any change in evaluation based upon that or any subsequent examination shall be subject to the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.105(e). If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis, the evaluation is to be based upon residuals as voiding dysfunction or renal dysfunction, whichever is predominant. 38 C.F.R. § 4.115b. Only the predominant area of dysfunction is to be considered for rating purposes to avoid violating the rule against the pyramiding of disabilities. 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.14, 4.115a. Service connection for prostate cancer was allowed in an August 2011 rating decision. At that time the Veteran was undergoing therapeutic treatments and the condition was rated as 100 percent disabling. Subsequently, an April 2013 VA examination, noting the completion of radiation therapy in 2011, was provided. The Veteran was notified in an October 2014 rating decision and letter, of a proposed reduction of the disability rating to 20 percent. The Veteran did not respond. A rating decision of January 2015 reduced his disability rating from 100 percent to 20 percent, effective April 1, 2015. After the January 2015 rating decision, the Veteran filed a timely notice of disagreement (NOD ) asserting his prostate disability was increased. Thus, the Veteran contends that he is entitled to a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for the residuals of prostate cancer, and he challenges the propriety of the rating reduction for this disability from 100 percent to 20 percent. During a hearing before the Board in April 2016, the Veteran alleged that his voiding problems have increased in severity since his most recent VA examination of April 2013. The Veteran testified that although he had not worn absorbent materials, he experienced problems with urgency and has daytime and night time “accidents.” Away from home, he was always anxious to know the location of the bathroom. The Veteran reported that he urinated four or five times during the day and three or four times each night. His son reported that when they watched television together, the Veteran got up to use the bathroom after “a couple TV episodes.” Overall, the Veteran stated his symptoms have worsened since he was last examined. As such, the Board finds that these issues must be remanded to determine the current severity of the residuals of the Veteran's prostate cancer. See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from January 2016 to the present. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected residuals of prostate cancer. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. M. HYLAND Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Jeanne Celtnieks, Associate Counsel