Citation Nr: 20002293 Decision Date: 01/14/20 Archive Date: 01/10/20 DOCKET NO. 14-10 834 DATE: January 14, 2020 REMANDED A total disability rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU).   REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1978 to August 1991. The case is on appeal from a January 2007 rating decision. In November 2015, the Veteran testified at a hearing conducted by the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Most recently, in a May 2018 decision, the Board denied a TDIU. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), which issued an order in July 2019 granting a July 2019 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) filed by the Veteran and VA’s Office of the General Counsel (“the parties”). The Court’s order remanded the matter for action consistent with the terms of the JMPR. The Veteran abandoned the remaining issues decided in the Board’s May 2018 decision. The Board, in May 2018, concurrently issued a separate decision remanding a claim of service connection for a blood disorder. That issue remains pending at the RO. Therefore, it is not within the scope of the instant action. The Board will take further action on that issue once all remanded action is complete and the issue is returned to the Board for final appellate disposition. See 38 C.F.R. § 19.38. A TDIU. The parties to the July 2019 JMPR explained that the Board did not adequately explain its finding that the Veteran’s claim for a TDIU was not inextricably intertwined with the claim of service connection for a blood disorder, which was remanded by the Board. The parties to the JMPR found that the Board failed to reconcile its reasoning with the reasoning previously offered in the Board’s November 2016 decision, which remanded the claim for TDIU. In that decision, the Board had remanded the TDIU claim because the development on the blood disorder claim might produce evidence relevant to the TDIU claim. A TDIU claim, as a downstream rating issue, cannot be intertwined with a service connection claim. However, consistent with the language of the July 2019 JMPR, the Board will remand the TDIU issue and defer adjudication pending the outcome of the service connection claim for a blood disorder. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: After completing all remanded action and readjudication on the issue of service connection for a blood disorder, readjudicate the TDIU claim, and return the issue to the Board if the benefit sought is not granted in full. RYAN T. KESSEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Bosely, Counsel 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.