Citation Nr: 21062186
Decision Date: 10/06/21	Archive Date: 10/06/21

DOCKET NO. 14-20 572
DATE: October 6, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for Hepatitis B is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1990 to October 1992.

In March 2020, the Board remanded the issue on appeal for further development, and the case has since been returned to the Board. The Board finds that the AOJ has not substantially complied with the remand directives.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998).

Entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for Hepatitis B is remanded.

In the March 2020 Board remand, the AOJ was asked to provide an opinion on the Veteran's Hepatitis B. Specifically, the examiner was asked, if "any additional disability caused by VA hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination furnished to the Veteran under any law administered by the VA, and the proximate cause of the disability was carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance on the part of the VA in furnishing the hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination; OR was the result of such additional disability an event not reasonably foreseeable?"

However, when providing an opinion in April 2020, the examiner provided an opinion for direct service connection. Accordingly, an addendum opinion is required.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate medical professional as to:

(a.) Identify all manifestations of the Veteran's Hepatitis B.

(b.) Did the Veteran incur an additional disability as a result of his colonoscopy, endoscopy and/or blood draw conducted in August 2008, to include Hepatitis B?

(c.) If so, was any additional disability caused by VA hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination furnished to the Veteran under any law administered by the VA, and the proximate cause of the disability was carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance on the part of the VA in furnishing the hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination; OR was the result of 

 

such additional disability an event not reasonably foreseeable?

 

 

L. M. BARNARD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	R. A. Elliott II, 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.