Citation Nr: 20006045
Decision Date: 01/24/20	Archive Date: 01/24/20

DOCKET NO. 19-12 823
DATE: January 24, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for leukemia, to include as due to exposure to chemicals, for accrued benefits purposes is remanded.

INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served active duty from April 1972 to April 1976.  He died in February 2017.  His surviving spouse has been substituted as the Appellant.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2016 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Columbia, South Carolina.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Board finds that a remand is warranted in order to obtain an opinion with respect to whether the Veteran’s leukemia was incurred in or due to his active duty, to include his alleged exposure to chemicals.  McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006); see also 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(d)(2), 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(4)(i).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain an etiological opinion from an oncologist.  The Veteran’s electronic claims file must be made available to the specialist and the specialist must specify in the report that it was contemporaneously reviewed.  All pertinent symptomatology and findings must be reported.

The specialist is asked to provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran’s leukemia was incurred in or due to his active duty OR was caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability.  In so doing the specialist must consider and discuss the Veteran’s service records, military occupational specialty, and lay assertions as to in-service exposure to chemicals.

All rendered opinions must be accompanied by a thorough rationale.

 

T. REYNOLDS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Sean G. Pflugner, 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 This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.