Citation Nr: 21001684
Decision Date: 01/11/21	Archive Date: 01/11/21

DOCKET NO. 18-26 889
DATE: January 11, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for residuals of heat stroke is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension, to include as secondary to heat stroke, is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for Crohn’s disease, to include as secondary to heat stroke, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

In February 2020, the Board remanded the Veteran’s above-captioned claims for additional development, to include providing him with a VA examination.  In so remanding, the Board provided the examiner with a specific directive: “assume as true the occurrence of the in-service event regarding heat stroke.”

In March 2020, the Veteran underwent the requested examinations.  The examiner utterly ignored the Board’s directive regarding the occurrence of heat stroke, saying there were no complaints or treatment regarding a heat stroke in the records.

The Board finds that the March 2020 examinations do not substantially comply with the remand directives and, thus, another remand is required for corrective actions.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule a VA examination (or telehealth interview, review of the record, etc. if an in-person examination is not feasible) to determine the onset and etiology of any residuals of heat stroke, to include as secondary to residuals of heat stroke, Crohn’s disease, and hypertension (claimed as high blood pressure), to include as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus. 

Whether a physical examination is necessary should be left to the discretion of the VA examiner.

The examiner must acknowledge and discuss the Veteran’s lay statements regarding the history and chronicity of symptomatology, to include the competent lay testimony of the Veteran suffering from heat stroke during a training period and of exhibiting signs of psychiatric disability, i.e., anxiety, since that time.

As such, the examiner MUST assume as true the occurrence of the in-service event regarding heat stroke.

 

 

STEVEN D. REISS

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.