Citation Nr: 18158395 Decision Date: 12/14/18 Archive Date: 12/14/18 DOCKET NO. 15-19 886 DATE: December 14, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to nonservice-connected pension benefits is dismissed. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection of Crohn's disease (initially claimed as colitis) is remanded. FINDING OF FACT In his hearing on May 23, 2018, prior to the promulgation of the decision in the appeal, the Veteran withdrew his claim of entitlement to nonservice-connected pension benefits. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for withdrawal of an appeal by the Veteran have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105(b)(2), (d)(5); 38 C.F.R. § 20.204. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from March 1996 to March 1998. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Oakland, California. Jurisdiction over the appeal presently rests with the RO in Seattle, Washington. In May 2018 the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a hearing held at the RO. A transcript of that hearing is of record. 1. Entitlement to nonservice-connected pension benefits The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. An appeal may be withdrawn as to any or all issues involved in the appeal at any time before the Board promulgates a decision. 38 C.F.R. § 20. Withdrawal may be made by the appellant or by his or her authorized representative. 38 C.F.R. § 20.204. In the present case, the Veteran, in his hearing before the undersigned, has clearly and unmistakably withdrawn his appeal for nonservice-connected pension benefits, hence, there remain no allegations of errors of fact or law for appellate consideration. Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the claim and it is dismissed. REASONS FOR REMAND 1. Entitlement to service connection of Crohn's disease (initially claimed as colitis) is remanded. The Veteran was initially scheduled for an examination in connection with his service connection claim in May 2013. He failed to appear for that examination and the RO obtained a medical opinion in June 2013 based upon a review of his available medical records only. After the rating decision on appeal was issued in June 2013, the Veteran notified VA that he was not aware of his scheduled examination as he had recently moved from California (where the examination was scheduled) to Washington State and requested his examinations be rescheduled. Although the Veteran was scheduled for a new examination pertaining to his claim of service connection of a headache disorder (indeed, that claim was granted shortly thereafter), he was not rescheduled for an intestinal disability examination. To the extent that the June 2013 opinion, which was rendered without an examination, relied upon a single incident of bowel distress during service in 1997, that opinion is of limited value as it does not fully take into consideration the Veteran’s competent reports of other symptoms during active service. In his hearing before the undersigned, the Veteran provided additional testimony regarding the history of his symptoms and asserted that, if afforded the opportunity, he would appear for an in-person examination in connection with his claim. As such, the Board will remand this claim to afford the Veteran the opportunity to appear for an examination, and so that an opinion may be rendered which fully considers the Veteran’s competent reports of symptoms during active service. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Invite the Veteran to submit any additional evidence in support of his claim. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any Crohn’s disease or other intestinal disability. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including his reports of bowel distress and other symptoms during active service. The examiner should also state whether his present Crohn’s disease at least as likely as not (1) began during active service, or (2) was noted during service with continuity of the same symptomatology since service. The examiner should be sure to include consideration of the Veteran’s reported symptoms, which he is competent to provide, and not limit the opinion to the single 1997 episode noted in his service treatment records. JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Pryce, Associate Counsel