Citation Nr: 20002071
Decision Date: 01/09/20	Archive Date: 01/09/20

DOCKET NO. 12-17 498A
DATE: January 9, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine injury is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from July 1985 to January 1990.

This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) rating decision.  In that decision, the RO denied entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine injury.

In January 2018, the Board remanded the case for further development and adjudicative action.

1. Entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine injury.

The Veteran was scheduled for a September 2019 VA examination of his cervical spine injury.  He failed to appear for the VA examination.  The Veteran stated that he missed the VA examination because he did not receive a notification letter.  Specifically, he reports that he was in the process of moving when the VA attempted to notify him of the VA examination.  He has asked for a rescheduled VA examination.  Because the Veteran did not receive notification of the September 2019 VA examination and has indicated his intent to report to a new VA examination, the Board concludes that the appeal should be remanded to provide the Veteran with another opportunity to attend a VA examination to evaluate his cervical spine injury.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain and associate with the claims file all of the Veteran’s outstanding VA treatment and private treatment records relevant to the pending claims on appeal, including any VA treatment records dated since September 2019.  All actions to obtain the requested records should be documented fully in the claims file.

2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of his cervical spine injury.  A complete rationale for all opinions must be provided.

The VA examiner must opine whether the Veteran’s cervical spine injury is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease during service.

3. Notification of the scheduled examination should be sent to the Veteran’s current address of record.  The AOJ must advise the Veteran that it is his responsibility to report for the examination scheduled and to cooperate in the development of the claim.  The consequences for failure to report for a VA examination without good cause may include denial of the claim.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.158, 3.655.  If the Veteran does not report for any scheduled examination, documentation must be obtained and associated with the claims file showing that notice of the scheduled examination was sent to the Veteran’s last known address of record.  Documentation must also be obtained and associated with the Veteran’s claim file demonstrating any notice that was sent and returned as undeliverable.

 

 

L. B. CRYAN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Small, Law Clerk

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.