Citation Nr: 18158156
Decision Date: 12/14/18	Archive Date: 12/14/18

DOCKET NO. 12-06 659
DATE:	December 14, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from April 196 to February 1968 in the United States Navy, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam. 
Entitlement to TDIU is remanded.
The Board previously remanded the issue of entitlement to TDIU.  However, the AOJ did not adequately develop the issue.  The Veteran was provided a VA examination to determine the functional impact of his service-connected lung cancer.  The examiner opined that the Veteran’s lung cancer had a substantial impact on his physical capcity for work, but did not offer any impact on sedentary employment.  Additionally, there are no contemporaneous medical opinions addressing the functional impact of the Veteran’s remaining service-connected disabilities, primarily his major depressive disorder. 
The record does not include a completed VA Form 21-8940, Application for TDIU.  The Veteran should be asked again to provide a full educational and employment history that includes all the specific information requested on that form.
The Veteran’s claims file includes a November 2018 rating decision proposing to reduce the Veteran’s current disability rating for service-connected lung cancer residuals from 100 percent to 30 percent due to the Veteran’s cancer being in remission.  If this reduction is effectuated, the Veteran will no longer meet the schedular requirements for TDIU.  Therefore, if the Veteran’s lung cancer rating is decreased and the Veteran is found unemployable, the TDIU claim must be referred to VA’s Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1.  Ask the Veteran to complete a TDIU claim form.  Take all appropriate action when that form is received.  
2. After completion of the above, schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician regarding the current severity of his major depressive disorder.  The examiner should elicit from the Veteran his complete educational, vocational, and employment history and should note his complaints regarding the impact of his major depressive disorder on employment.  The examiner should identify all limitations or functional impairment caused solely by his major depressive disorder.
A complete rationale must be provided for any opinion offered.  
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3.  If the Veteran’s combined disability rating is reduced and he is found unemployable, refer the Veteran’s claim for TDIU to VA’s Director of Compensation Service for extraschedular consideration.
 
M.E. Larkin
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	P.S. McLeod