Citation Nr: 18159494
Decision Date: 12/20/18	Archive Date: 12/19/18

DOCKET NO. 17-04 785A
DATE:	December 20, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for degenerative changes of the left shoulder is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for degenerative changes of the right shoulder is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) of the left hand is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for CTS of the right hand is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for numbness of the thumb and two fingers of the right hand, to include as secondary to the right shoulder condition, is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for nerve damage, to include as secondary to the bilateral shoulder condition, is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression, is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for insomnia is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service from August 1976 to July 1978.  These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2014 rating decision.  The Veteran initially requested a hearing before the Board when he filed his substantive appeal.  However, the Veteran withdrew his request for a hearing in July 2018 correspondence.
Regarding the claims on appeal, the Veteran’s claims file does not appear to contain a complete copy of his service treatment records.  The Veteran appears to have submitted a few pages of his service treatment records on two occasions in September 2013 and January 2014.  However, when VA requested a complete copy of the Veteran’s service treatment records from the appropriate agency, the file contained only the records of his examinations performed in prepartion for his entry and exit from service and his report of medical history accompanying his entry to service.  The pages from his service treatment records that were submitted by the Veteran were not in the service treatment records received from the appropriate agency, indicating that the service treatment records received are not complete.  Consequently, a decision on the Veteran’s claims cannot be rendered until VA makes efforts to obtain those records, or, if VA concludes that the records cannot be obtained, provides the Veteran with appropriate notice of that fact.






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The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
Contact all appropriate resources to obtain the Veteran’s complete service treatment records.  In the event that it is concluded that the Veteran’s complete service treatment records cannot be obtained after exhaustive efforts, provide the Veteran appropriate notice of this information under 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).

 
A. ISHIZAWAR
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Steven H. Johnston, Associate Counsel