Citation Nr: 20009769 Decision Date: 02/06/20 Archive Date: 02/05/20 DOCKET NO. 17-67 449 DATE: February 6, 2020 REMANDED The issue of entitlement to service connection for a recurrent skin disability. to include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and actinic keratoses. is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from March 1965 to March 1967. The issue of entitlement to service connection for a recurrent skin disability, to include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and actinic keratoses, is remanded. The Veteran asserts that service connection for a recurrent skin disability is warranted as the claimed disability was manifested secondary to his extensive sun exposure and associated sunburns while aboard the U.S.S. Noa. A July 2013 private skin evaluation indicates that the Veteran was diagnosed with “basal squamous cell,” photodermatitis, and actinic keratosis. The examining physician’s assistant states that the Veteran “continues to produce” pre cancerous lesions “due to the amount of sun exposure that he had when he was younger.” Clinical documentation from Advanced Dermatology dated in August 2015 indicates that the Veteran underwent excision of multiple squamous cell carcinomas. The Veteran’s service personnel documentation is not of record. Clinical documentation dated after October 2017 is not of record. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should obtain all relevant military, VA, and private records which could potentially be helpful in resolving the Veteran’s claim. Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). The Veteran has not been afforded a VA skin examination. VA’s duty to assist includes, in appropriate cases, the duty to conduct a thorough and contemporaneous medical examination which is accurate and fully descriptive. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006); Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 121, 124 (1991). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for each private healthcare provider who has treated him for any skin disability. Make two requests for the authorized records from all identified healthcare providers unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Contact the National Personnel Records Center and/or the appropriate service entity and request that the Veteran’s complete service personnel records be forwarded for incorporation into the record. 3. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records dated after October 2017. 4. Schedule the Veteran for a VA skin examination conducted by an appropriate physician to assist in determining the nature and etiology of the claimed recurrent skin disability and any relationship to active service. The examiner must review the record and should note that review in the report. A rationale for all opinions should be provided. The examiner should: (a) Diagnose all recurrent skin disabilities found. (b) Opine whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that any identified skin disability had its onset during active service or is related to any incident of service, including the reported sun exposure and associated sunburns aboard the U.S.S. Noa. J. T. HUTCHESON Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. M. Donahue Boushehri 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.