Citation Nr: 18160309
Decision Date: 12/26/18	Archive Date: 12/26/18

DOCKET NO. 13-03 256
DATE:	December 26, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1987 to December 1987. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2011 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 
This case was previously before the Board in June 2017, at which time it was remanded for further development, as discussed below. The Board finds that the remand directives were not substantially complied with and thus another remand is warranted. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998).
Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction is remanded. 
A June 2017 Board decision remanded the claim of service connection for erectile dysfunction and directed the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) to obtain any outstanding records of pertinent medical treatment from VA or private health care providers. After the completion of the aforementioned development, the AOJ was directed to schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s erectile dysfunction, and to provide an opinion as to whether erectile dysfunction was caused or has been aggravated by the Veteran’s service-connected back disability or service-connected depression.
A VA examination was conducted in September 2017. However, the Veteran’s outstanding private medical treatment records were received and associated with the claims file in December 2017, and the Veteran’s outstanding VA medical treatment records were associated with the claims file in January 2018. As such, the Board finds that the remand directives were not substantially complied with and, therefore, another remand is warranted. Stegall, 11 Vet. App. at 271. Specifically, the VA examination was conducted before the AOJ obtained the Veteran’s records of pertinent medical treatment from VA and private health care providers. Furthermore, because these medical records were not considered by the examiner, the Board finds the September 2017 VA examination to be incomplete. 
This matter is REMANDED for the following actions:
1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records for the period from January 2018 to the present.
2. After completing directive #1, obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of erectile dysfunction. An in-person examination is not required unless deemed necessary by the clinician. The clinician is to review the virtual file, including a copy of this Remand. The clinician is to address the following:
(a.) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that erectile dysfunction was caused by the Veteran’s service-connected back disability and/or service-connected depression. **Note: The Veteran’s medical treatment records reflect that treatment of erectile dysfunction started in December 2008 and that the Veteran started taking Xanax before December 2008. 
(b.) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that erectile dysfunction has been aggravated (i.e., worsened beyond the normal progression of that disease) by the Veteran’s service-connected back disability and/or service-connected depression. 
 
Paul Sorisio
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Han, Associate Counsel