Citation Nr: 18159182
Decision Date: 12/18/18	Archive Date: 12/18/18

DOCKET NO. 15-12 381
DATE:	December 18, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to a total disability rating due to individual unemployability resulting from service-connected disability (TDIU) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1965 to August 1969.  
1. TDIU is remanded.
In a December 2018 Brief, the Veteran, through his representative, requested that records associated with his Social Security Administration (SSA) disability claim be obtained, as they may be pertinent to his current claim for TDIU.  The Board notes that SSA records have not been obtained or considered in this case.  The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) has held that where there has been a determination with regard to SSA benefits, the records concerning that decision must be obtained.  Tetro v. Gober, 14 Vet. App. 100, 108-09 (2000); Murincsak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 363, 372 (1992).  A remand is necessary to obtain these relevant records.  Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2010).  
In addition, in the February 2015 statement of the case, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) indicated that it reviewed June 2013 VA examination reports electronically; copies of those examination reports are not of record at this time.  Moreover, the Board notes that the Veteran has been spending the summer in Florida since his retirement.  However, there is no evidence in the record that the RO attempted to obtain any treatment records from the Florida VA healthcare system. The record also demonstrates that the Veteran the Veteran requested to move his primary care from Kansas to Nevada and the Paola CBOC in June 2015. Therefore, on remand, all outstanding VA treatment records, including from Kansas, Nevada, and Florida must be obtained.  
Consequently, during the remand, the Board also finds that any outstanding VA treatment records, including copies of the June 2013 VA examination reports referenced in the February 2015 Statement of the Case, should also be obtained and associated with the claims file.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(b), (c); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(b); see also Sullivan v. McDonald, 815 F.3d 786 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (where the Veteran “sufficiently identifies” other VA medical records that he or she desires to be obtained, VA must also seek those records even if they do not appear potentially relevant based upon the available information); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file, to include copies of the June 27, 2013 VA examination reports listed in the February 2015 Statement of the Case, as well as VA treatment in the Kansas, Nevada, and Florida healthcare systems that may have treated the Veteran, and associate those documents with the claims file.
2. Obtain from the Social Security Administration, or other state agency administering disability benefits, the records pertinent to the Veteran’s claim for disability benefits as well as the medical records relied upon in considering such a claim. Any negative search should be noted in the record and communicated to the Veteran. Additionally, in the event records are not obtained, if it is determined that additional research requests would be futile, then a memorandum of unavailability should be drafted and added to the record.
 
MARTIN B. PETERS
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A.B., Counsel