Citation Nr: 19104331
Decision Date: 01/17/19	Archive Date: 01/17/19

DOCKET NO. 15-18 421A
DATE:	January 17, 2019

REMANDED

Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent from June 6, 2014, forward, for a service connected bowel obstruction is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to December 1969. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a June 2014 rating decision from a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional office (RO).

The June 2014 rating decision granted service connection for the Veteran’s bowel obstruction with a rating of 30 percent effective April 29, 2013, and a rating of 10 percent from June 6, 2014, forward.  The Veteran appealed the 10 percent rating.  

The Board notes that while this appeal was pending, the Veteran filed additional claims and has appealed those claims under the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP).  As this claim was raised separately and certified to the Board prior to the Veteran’s request to participate in RAMP, it is not eligible to be considered under the RAMP regulations and will adjudicated under the legacy appeals system.  

The Veteran did not request a hearing before the Board on this matter, thus, one was not conducted. 

The Veteran’s claim must be remanded for additional development.  The Veteran indicated in a February 2016 correspondence that he had seen a doctor outside the VA system for treatment of his bowel condition.  A later VA treatment record from May 2017 also indicates the Veteran saw a doctor outside the VA for his bowel condition in January 2016.  The claims file does not include records from this provider, nor does it document any attempts to obtain them. In accordance with VA’s duty to assist the Veteran, reasonable attempts should be made to obtain these records. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. 

Additionally, the Veteran’s representative has requested that new examination for the Veteran’s condition be provided to reflect the current severity of the Veteran’s condition.  This request indicates that there has been a change in the Veteran’s condition since the last examination in October 2015.  As such, the Veteran should be afforded a new examination to evaluate the current severity of his service-connected bowel obstruction.  Littke v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 90, 92 (1990).

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for the record of Dr. G and any other private providers he has seen for his bowel obstruction. 

Make at least two requests for the authorized records from any provider for which the Veteran has completed a VA Form 21-4132, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile.

Associate any records obtained with the Veteran’s claims file.

2. After the above development has taken place, schedule the Veteran for an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected bowel obstruction. 



 

K. J. ALIBRANDO

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	S. Reed, Associate Counsel