Citation Nr: 21003019 Decision Date: 01/19/21 Archive Date: 01/19/21 DOCKET NO. 13-34 140A DATE: January 19, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for left ankle disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right ankle disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for chest bursitis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left shoulder bursitis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right shoulder bursitis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left hip bursitis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right hip bursitis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for gastritis is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for foot fungus is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for hemorrhoids is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from June 1974 to June 1977, and from June 1977 to June 1980, with a period in the Army National Guard from April 1982 to February 2001 which included periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA). This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2009 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Baltimore, Maryland. A Board hearing for these issues was held in January 2017 before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) sitting in Washington, D.C. A copy of the transcript of that hearing is of record. The Board notes the presence of a separate adjudication with different issues on appeal for this Veteran by a different VLJ who signed a decision dated December 29, 2020. The issues in that decision do not overlap or relate to the issues in this appeal. The ten issues on appeal listed above were all remanded in a December 27, 2017 Board remand for additional development, and the appeal was returned to the Board. However, the remand directives were not substantially complied with, and thus further remand is necessary. D’Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97, 105 (2008); Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). 1. Entitlement to service connection for left ankle disability is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service connection for right ankle disability is remanded. 3. Entitlement to service connection for chest bursitis is remanded. 4. Entitlement to service connection for left shoulder bursitis is remanded. 5. Entitlement to service connection for right shoulder bursitis is remanded. 6. Entitlement to service connection for left hip bursitis is remanded. 7. Entitlement to service connection for right hip bursitis is remanded. 8. Entitlement to service connection for gastritis is remanded. 9. Entitlement to service connection for foot fungus is remanded. 10. Entitlement to service connection for hemorrhoids is remanded. The Board notes that after the December 2017 Board remand regarding these issues that VA provided medical examinations and opinions for all ten of these issues. However, there has been no readjudication of these issues in this particular appeal by any form, whether rating decision or supplemental statement of the case, as the Board directed in its December 2017 remand. In Stegall v. West, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims noted that a remand by the Board confers upon the Veteran, or other claimant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with remand orders. Further, the Court noted, there is a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the terms of the remand. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The Board notes VA medical examinations and opinions for the issues in this appeal from January, March, April, and August 2019 already in the claims file. However, there has been no readjudication of the claims in this legacy appeal as directed and as required by regulation and law. The Board cannot form medical opinions of its own. As an adjudicator may not substitute his or her own opinion for medical judgment, Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 171 (1991), a medical opinion cannot subvert the responsibility of the fact finder. Moore, 555 F.3d at 1373. Here, the Board finds that because that there has been no subsequent rating decision or supplemental statement of the case for the issues remanded by the Board in its December 2017 remand decision, that the appeal must be returned to the RO for completion of its previous remand directives from the December 27, 2017. While there have been medical examinations accomplished and opinions noted in the claims file, there has been no readjudication in the form of a rating decision or supplemental statement of the case as appropriate, and thus this appeal is returned to the RO to complete the development directed by the earlier December 2017 Board remand. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.31; see Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238 (1999). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Readjudicate the issues in this appeal and issue a rating decision and/or a supplemental statement of the case as appropriate for the issues of left ankle disability, right ankle disability, chest bursitis, left shoulder bursitis, right shoulder bursitis, left hip bursitis, right hip bursitis, gastritis, foot fungus, and hemorrhoids, as required by 38 C.F.R. §§ 19.29 -19.31 (2020) and Manlincon, 12 Vet. App. at 240. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 5109B, 7112 (2012). MICHAEL A. PAPPAS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Setter, 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.