Citation Nr: 20021885 Decision Date: 03/27/20 Archive Date: 03/27/20 DOCKET NO. 14-19 962 DATE: March 27, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable rating for diabetes type II with tinea cruris is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1965 to December 1967. This claim was previously before the Board in August 2018 and was denied. The Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). CAVC granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the Board’s August 2018 decision and remanded the claim for further development and additional support for the Board reasons and basis for denial. The JMR indicates that the duty to assist was not satisfied as the record indicates that the Veteran reported recurring treatment with his private physician Dr. Thomas Quinn. These records have not been associated with the file and a remand is required to allow VA to obtain authorization and request these records. Additionally, the record indicates that the Veteran’s tinea cruris has affected worsening with flare-ups. There is also some question regarding whether the Veteran’s topical prescriptions should be considered systemic therapy. Accordingly, remand is warranted to afford the Veteran a new VA examination that addresses the allegation of worsening with flare-ups and the issue of systemic therapy. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain treatment records from Dr. Thomas Quinn from December 2006 to present. If necessary, ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142. Make two requests for the authorized records from Dr. Thomas Quinn, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Obtain any unassociated VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file. 3. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected tinea cruris. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria. In so doing, the examiner must attempt to elicit information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups. In recognition of the difficulty in capturing flare-ups of the skin condition during an examination, the examiner is asked to provide an estimate during flare-ups of the percentage of the Veteran’s total body area, and the percentage of his exposed surfaces, that is affected by his tinea cruris based on the current medical examination, past medical examinations, and the Veteran’s descriptions of areas of the body affected. The examiner is asked to identify all medications the Veteran has used to treat his skin condition. In regard to the Veteran’s topical medications, is it at least as likely as not that such topical medication is LIKE or SIMILAR to a corticosteroid or other immunosuppressive drug in accordance with prevailing medical understanding? Does the topical treatment only affect the area in which treatment is applied or does it affect the entire body system as a whole? Jennifer White Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board R. I. Sims 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.