Citation Nr: 21005110
Decision Date: 01/29/21	Archive Date: 01/29/21

DOCKET NO. 14-20 172A
DATE: January 29, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a condition claimed as dizzy spells is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1969 to July 1974.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2011 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2019, the Board remanded the claim for a VA etiology opinion. 

Though a VA opinion was provided in December 2019, the Board finds that more information is needed in order to adequately adjudicate the Veteran’s claim for service connection.

The December 2019 VA opinion concluded that there was no link to service based on review of the Veteran’s service treatment records and finding no reports of dizziness in service. However, at a July 2017 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that his dizzy spells began in 1970 when he was serving in Vietnam. The Veteran added that the dizziness began after a bad spell of malaria, which service treatment records show the Veteran did have during service. Since the December 2019 VA opinion failed to consider the Veteran’s own statements regarding dizziness during service, it is inadequate. Dalton v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 23, 39, 40 (2007).

Additionally, the December 2019 VA opinion referred to a clinic note that showed a complaint of “dizziness related to high blood pressure,” a disability for which the Veteran is also service connected, and the Veteran testified at the July 2017 Board hearing that he felt his dizziness could also be related to his service-connected PTSD. Accordingly, the Board finds that an opinion should be provided regarding whether the Veteran’s dizzy spells are secondary to his service-connected hypertension or PTSD. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83, 86 (2006) (applying 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(d)); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(4).

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Associate with the Veteran’s claims file any VA treatment records not already of record.

2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination regarding the nature and etiology of any condition manifesting in dizzy spells. For any condition diagnosed, the examiner must opine on all of the following:

a. Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s condition began during service or is otherwise related to the Veteran’s service? Consider and discuss the Veteran’s testimony that the dizziness began in service in 1970, and also that it began following a bad bout of malaria.

b. Is the condition at least as likely as not proximately due to the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD and/or service-connected hypertension? 

c. Is the condition at least as likely as not aggravated (worsened beyond the normal course of the disease) by the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD and/or service-connected hypertension?

3. After the above development and any other development deemed necessary is completed, readjudicate the Veteran’s claim.

 

 

K. Parakkal

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Davis, Associate 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.