Citation Nr: 20007548 Decision Date: 01/29/20 Archive Date: 01/29/20 DOCKET NO. 14-38 040 DATE: January 29, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a gastrointestinal disorder, to include ulcerative colitis, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from April 1973 to 1976. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2012 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, Missouri. In January 2018, the Veteran and his spouse testified in a video conference Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A copy of the hearing transcript is associated with the file. In an April 2018 decision, the Board denied the claim for service connection for a gastrointestinal disorder, to include ulcerative colitis. The Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In an April 2019 Memorandum Decision, the Court vacated the Board’s April 2018 decision and remanded the claim for readjudication consistent with the decision.   Entitlement to service connection for a gastrointestinal disorder The Board finds that a remand is warranted to obtain outstanding VA medical records. For example, at the January 2018 hearing, the Veteran testified that he sought treatment from the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, between June 1976 and February 1977 and then again when he moved back to the area again in 1981. In reviewing the request for records from that facility, the Board could see that VA had a “start date” of November 2009, which is consistent with the earliest records in the file from that facility. Thus, a request for records beginning in June 1976 to November 2009 should be made from that facility. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the treatment records from the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, from June 1976 to November 2009. Make as many requests as necessary until it is clear that further search efforts would be futile. Document all search efforts. 2. The agency of original jurisdiction is free to perform any additional development it deems is warranted. A. P. SIMPSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Griffin, 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.