Citation Nr: 21004290
Decision Date: 01/26/21	Archive Date: 01/26/21

DOCKET NO. 94-12 762
DATE: January 26, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection to a cervical spine disability, to include as secondary to service-connected upper extremity disabilities is remanded.

Entitlement to special monthly compensation is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from December 1949 to December 1953 and in the United States Army from July 1987 to December 1991.

This appeal has a lengthy history, including prior Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) decisions in July 2013, April 2015, April 2017, February 2019, and July 2020.  The Board most recently remanded the issues in its July 2020 decision in order to obtain an adequate examination opinion.  The Board had previously denied the issues in February 2019, but the Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the Court vacated and remanded the Board’s decision.

The Veteran had a Board hearing in February 2001 before a different Veterans Law Judge.  The transcript is of record, but the earlier Judge is no longer with the Board.  The Veteran was offered the opportunity for another hearing by letter dated June 2020.  He did not elect another hearing.

1. Entitlement to service connection to a cervical spine disability, to include as secondary to service-connected upper extremity disabilities is remanded.

VA obtained a new opinion in September 2020.  This opinion, unfortunately, is inadequate for the issue of secondary service connection based on aggravation.  The September 2020 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s shoulder, elbow, and forearm did not cause the Veteran’s degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, but she did not opine on whether the disabilities aggravated the spinal disability.

2. Entitlement to special monthly compensation is remanded.

Because the adjudication of service connection for a cervical spine disability could impact the merits of the appeal for SMC, the issue of entitlement to SMC is inextricably intertwined and therefore must also be remanded.  See Smith v. Gober, 236 F.3d 1370, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2001).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding addressing the whether it is at least likely as not that the Veteran’s cervical spine disability:

1. was proximately due to a service-connected disability(ies), to include the Veteran’s service-connected shoulder, elbow, and forearm

2. underwent any incremental increase in disability, regardless of its permanence, due to a service-connected disability(ies), to include the Veteran’s service-connected shoulder, elbow, and forearm. The term “incremental increase in disability” means additional impairment of earning capacity. Objective measurement, or numerical quantification, is not required to ascertain an increase in disability. Moreover, any “incremental increase in disability” need not be permanent.

The examiner must provide an opinion specifically directed to aggravation of the cervical spine and not causation alone.

A detailed explanation is requested for all opinions provided. 

 

 

MICHAEL A. HERMAN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Paul Saindon, Special 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.