Citation Nr: 20004045 Decision Date: 01/16/20 Archive Date: 01/16/20 DOCKET NO. 11-01 061 DATE: January 16, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable rating for a lower back disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for headaches is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service in the United States Marine Corps from May 1992 to October 1999. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2010 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). These matters previously came before the Board in August 2015 when they were remanded for additional development.   1. Entitlement to a compensable rating for a lower back disability is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service connection for headaches is remanded. The Board remanded these issues in August 2015 to schedule the Veteran for VA examinations. He did not attend his scheduled examinations, but the claims file is unclear as to whether he was properly notified of the date and time of the rescheduled examinations. In this regard, the Veteran attended examinations in August 2019, in support of several other claims pending under a different Docket Number, implying that he is willing to cooperate with a pending claim. Further, although new examinations were clearly scheduled for November 2019, and the Veteran failed to appear, there is no evidence in the record that the Veteran was notified of the date of those examinations. In short, it is unclear as to whether he was properly informed of these ordered examinations. Consequently, these issues must be remanded again to schedule VA examinations and properly document in the claims file that the Veteran was provided adequate notice at his latest address of record. In remanding these claims, the Veteran is notified that the duty to assist is not a one-way street; a claimant is obligated to cooperate in the development of a pending claim. Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Board. App. 190 (1991). In short, any further failure to appear for examinations, as scheduled, may result in the denial of his claims. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Invite the Veteran to submit any additional evidence in support of his claim. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his service-connected back disability. Range of motion should be reported, including whether and the extent to which such motion is affected by pain, weakness, fatigue, lack of endurance, incoordination or other symptoms resulting in functional loss. Based upon a review of the medical records, lay statements submitted in support of the claim, and/or statements elicited from the Veteran during the examination, state whether the Veteran experiences flare ups of his service-connected back disability, and how he characterizes the additional functional loss during a flare-up. 3. Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination regarding his headache disorder. For each and every identified headache disorder, the examiner should state whether it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the headache disability was caused by a disease or injury in service, to include his in-service reports of headaches and migraines (March 1994). 4. The AOJ must notify the Veteran of his scheduled VA examinations either 1) in writing and/or 2) verbally, with documentation that the Veteran was told the date, time, and location of his examination. Documentation of such notice should be associated with the claims file. M. Pryce Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Garrett Morales, Associate 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.