Citation Nr: 19106935
Decision Date: 01/29/19	Archive Date: 01/29/19

DOCKET NO. 15-03 850
DATE:	January 29, 2019

REMANDED

Entitlement to a compensable initial rating for irritable colon syndrome (IBS) is remanded.

Entitlement to total disability individual unemployability (TDIU) based on IBS is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran has active service in the United States Air Force from October 1998 to July 2011.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

The last VA examination to address the Veteran’s IBS was an April 2014 VA posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) examination. This report indicated that the Veteran was experiencing “up to 10 bowel movements per day with cramping, bloating, abdominal discomfort, etc.”  However, the report does not describe the “Etc.” symptoms and the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination tailored to his IBS.  Moreover, as the Veteran’s representative has argued that an extraschedular rating is warranted, a new examination is necessary to determine the exact nature and severity of his disability. 

With respect to the issue of entitlement to a TDIU rating, in an Appellate Brief dated December 15, 2018, the Veteran’s representative argued that the Veteran’s IBS should be considered on a schedular and extraschedular basis, as well as precluding employment such that a TDIU is warranted.  While the Veteran is currently in receipt of a TDIU rating, this rating was assigned in a January 2017 rating decision based solely on the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD. 

Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) at the S level are payable if a Veteran has a single permanent disability rated 100 percent disabling, and has either (1) additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, or (2) is permanently housebound by reason of service-connected disability or disabilities. The disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more must be separate and distinct from the 100 percent service-connected disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems.

A TDIU satisfies the total (100 percent) rating requirement if the TDIU evaluation was, or can be, predicated upon a single disability and there exists additional disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, for purposes of entitlement to special monthly compensation for a housebound rating. Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 293 (2008).

In this case, the Veteran has been awarded a TDIU based solely on his service-connected PTSD.  Accordingly, based on the Veteran’s arguments, the issue of entitlement to a TDIU based solely on the Veteran’s IBS has been raised pursuant to Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009), and is not rendered moot by the prior grant of TDIU because the Veteran may be entitled to SMC. See Buie v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 242, 250 (2011).  Additionally, because the Veteran’s TDIU claim is inextricably linked with his claim for entitlement to a compensable rating for IBS, the TDIU claim is also remanded for further development.

These matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected IBS.  The examiner should provide a full description of Veteran’s IBS and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. The examiner should elicit from the Veteran his complete educational, vocational, and employment history and should note his complaints regarding the impact of IBS on employment.  The examiner should identify all limitations or functional impairment caused solely by IBS. A complete rationale should be given for all opinions and conclusions expressed.

 

M. Donohue

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Lherault, Associate Counsel