Citation Nr: 20005187
Decision Date: 01/22/20	Archive Date: 01/22/20

DOCKET NO. 15-26 762
DATE: January 22, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for recurrent headaches is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hand paresthesia is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served honorably on active duty with the United States Army from June 1990 to July 2013.  He completed multiple deployments to the Southwest Asia theater of operations, and he also deployed to Afghanistan.

In August 2019, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of the hearing is associated with the claims file.

Regrettably, a remand is necessary in this case.  The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) issued a Statement of the Case (SOC) in June 2015.  Additional VA treatment records were added to the claims file after issuance of the SOC, but prior to transfer of the case to the Board in April 2016.  The treatment records contain the results of electromyography (EMG) testing completed in January 2016 and are particularly relevant to the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hand paresthesia.  Because the records were not submitted by the Veteran himself and were added to the claims file after the issuance of the SOC but prior to the transfer of the case to the Board, a remand is necessary for the issuance of a new Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) that considers these additional records.  38 C.F.R. §§ 19.31, 19.37.

Additionally, remand is warranted to obtain outstanding VA treatment records.  There are no VA treatment records associated with the claims file after January 2016, but during his August 2019 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that he has received medical treatment through VA during the past five years.  

Accordingly, the matters are REMANDED for the following actions:

1. Obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding VA medical treatment records, to include records from January 2016 to the present.  Additionally, with any necessary assistance from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding private and/or Tricare medical treatment records.  All efforts to obtain such records should be associated with the claims file.

2. Then, readjudicate the claims on appeal.  If the benefits sought remain denied, issue a supplemental statement of the case to the Veteran and his representative and return the case to the Board.

 

 

L. CHU

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	G. T. Raftery, 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.