Citation Nr: 19118730 Decision Date: 03/14/19 Archive Date: 03/14/19 DOCKET NO. 17-26 294 DATE: March 14, 2019 REMANDED Service connection for a gynecological disability, to include endometriosis, a hysterectomy, an oophorectomy, and the loss of use of a creative organ, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange, is remanded. Service connection for asthma, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange, is remanded. Service connection for bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange, is remanded. Service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1965 to December 1967. These matters come to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Los Angeles, California.   1. Service connection for a gynecological disability, to include endometriosis, a hysterectomy, an oophorectomy, and the loss of use of a creative organ, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange, is remanded. 2. Service connection for asthma, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange exposure, is remanded. 3. Service connection for bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange exposure, is remanded. 4. Service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicides or Agent Orange exposure, is remanded. In a statement received by VA in October 2013, the Veteran contends she was exposed to Agent Orange while attending the Navy Photographic School in Pensacola, Florida. Indeed, her military records, received in April 2014, reflect she was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola from May 1965 to October 1965. In her correspondence, the Veteran also detailed how she received treatment from various providers that are not of record. In May 2017, the RO’s JSRRC coordinator determined the information required to corroborate the Veteran’s herbicide exposure was insufficient. However, in her October 2013 statement, the Veteran explained the circumstances regarding how she believes she was exposed to herbicides. The Board notes the coordinator did not explain why the information required to verify any Agent Orange exposure was insufficient. Accordingly, the Board finds the JSRRC coordinator’s efforts were insufficient, so a remand is needed for the AOJ to verify the Veteran’s claimed exposure to herbicides, to include Agent Orange, through the U.S. Army Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC). The Board also notes the Veteran received a VA gynecological opinion and examination in March 2017. However, the Board finds the opinion insufficient as it does not address the Veteran’s documented treatment for chronic cervicitis as noted within her STRs and whether this chronic cervicitis was the beginning of any later gynecological issues. These matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Attempt to verify the Veteran’s claimed exposure to herbicides (to include Agent Orange) through JSRRC. For details of the Veteran’s claimed exposure, please review her written statement received on October 22, 2013. Specifically, send a request to JSRRC for verification as to whether the Veteran was potentially exposed to an herbicide agent during her period of service at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. A copy of the Veteran’s written statement received on October 22, 2013 should be provided to JSRRC for review. Any response from JSRRC should be associated with the record. 2. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and private medical records identified by the Veteran as pertinent to her claims. The AOJ should help the Veteran obtain the following medical records as detailed in her October 2013 correspondence. (a.) Medical records from Mountain View Hospital near San Jose, CA; (b.) Medical records concerning her two operations and hysterectomy; and (c.) Medical records from the neurologist who treated her peripheral neuropathy. 3. Next, schedule the Veteran for the appropriate VA examination to assess the nature and etiology of her gynecological disorder(s). The Veteran’s claims file, including a copy of this REMAND, must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. The examiner must note in the examination report that the evidence in the claims file has been reviewed. The examiner must elicit a full history from the Veteran and respond to the following: The examiner is requested to render an opinion as to whether it is least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent or higher probability) that any gynecological disorder resulting in the Veteran’s hysterectomy had its clinical onset during active service or is related to any incident of service, to include her chronic cervicitis treated in May 1967. (Continued on the next page)   The examiner must provide a comprehensive report including complete rationales for all opinions and conclusions reached, citing the objective medical findings leading to the conclusions. P. M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Department of Veterans Affairs