Citation Nr: 20049663 Decision Date: 07/27/20 Archive Date: 07/27/20 DOCKET NO. 12-04 068 DATE: July 27, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for recurrent headaches is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2011 rating decision issued by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The January 2011 rating decision, in pertinent part, granted service connection for recurrent headaches and assigned a noncompensable initial evaluation effective November 1, 2010. During the pendency of the appeal for a higher initial rating for recurrent headaches, a December 2015 rating decision granted a 30 percent staged initial evaluation, effective February 23, 2015. Thereafter, a February 2016 rating decision granted a 10 percent staged initial evaluation for recurrent headaches effective November 1, 2010 and a 30 percent staged initial evaluation effective September 5, 2012. A June 2017 rating decision granted a 30 percent initial rating effective from November 1, 2010. Because the 30 percent initial rating does not represent a grant of the maximum benefits allowable under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, the Veteran’s appeal as to this issue remains for Board consideration. AB v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 35, 38 (1993). Additionally, the issue of entitlement to a compensable initial rating for recurrent headaches was remanded by the Board in September 2014 for further development. In June 2017, the issue was again before the Board, and the Board granted a 30 percent initial evaluation, for the disability at issue, recharacterized as migraine headaches, for the entire appeal period. The Veteran appealed the Board’s denial of an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for migraine headaches to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In an Order dated in April 2018, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) of the parties (the Secretary of VA and the Veteran), and vacated the Board’s denial of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for migraine headaches, and remanded the issue to the Board for re-adjudication consistent with the JMPR. Pursuant to the April 2018 Order and corresponding JMPR, the Board remanded the claim in December 2018 for further development. It now returns for appellate review. Additional evidence, consisting of VA treatment records most recently dated in April 2019 from VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, was received subsequent to the April 2020 supplemental statement of the case issued for the appeal herein. However, these VA treatment records are duplicative of prior records. Nonetheless, in a July 2020 post-remand brief, the Veteran’s representative waived Agency of Original Jurisdiction consideration of this additional evidence. Thus, the Board may proceed with appellate review. 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for recurrent headaches is remanded. In a February 2019 VA Form 21-4142, Authorization for Release of Information, submitted in the context of other claims, the Veteran identified treatment from private medical providers, records which have not yet been obtained, and the Board is unclear as to whether such records are relevant to the current claim at issue herein. Moreover, an October 2019 headaches disability benefits questionnaire documented, in part, that the Veteran reported as to his migraines, including migraine variants, he was followed by a primary care physician, a civilian provider in Plate county, specifically Dr. Bollinger. As the Veteran identified relevant outstanding private treatment records, a remand is required to allow VA to obtain authorization and request these records. Additionally, in light of the remand above, and as the October 2019 headaches disability benefits questionnaire documented, in part, that the Veteran reported he moved from Hawaii in April 2019, and that as to his migraines, including migraine variants, he followed-up with neurology when in Hawaii, and also as the October 2019 headaches disability benefits questionnaire itself was conducted at the Kansas City VA Medical Center (VAMC), updated VA treatment from the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and/or the Kansas City VAMC, since April 2019, should be obtained and associated with the record. The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s updated VA treatment records, to the extent such exist, from the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System and/or the Kansas City VAMC, for the period from April 2019 to the present. 2. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for any relevant medical providers to include Dr. Bollinger. Make two requests for the authorized records from any identified medical providers, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the issue on appeal. If the benefit sought is not granted, furnish the Veteran and his representative with a supplemental statement of the case   and afford them an opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. U. R. POWELL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Espinoza, 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.