Citation Nr: 21062724
Decision Date: 10/12/21	Archive Date: 10/12/21

DOCKET NO. 13-35 401
DATE: October 12, 2021

REMANDED

Evaluation in excess of 20 percent for tinea pedis is remanded.

Entitlement to a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability (TDIU), to include on an extraschedular basis, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1973 to March 1977.

The Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in November 2015. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record. 

The issues were before the Board in August 2020 when they were denied. The Veteran subsequently appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims (CAVC). In a May 2021 Order, CAVC granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), vacating and remanding the August 2020 Board decision.

1. Evaluation in excess of 20 percent for tinea pedis is remanded.

The claim is remanded to obtain a current examination and a medical opinion to determine whether the Veteran's use of topical triamcinolone treatment was systemic therapy. See Burton v. Wilkie, 30 Vet. App. 286 (2018). 

The Veteran has not been examined since October 2018, and has had additional treatment for his foot disability since then. 

Updated treatment records should also be obtained on remand. The most recent treatment record associated with the record is dated in January 2020. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159.

2. Entitlement to a TDIU, to include on an extraschedular basis, is remanded.

The TDIU claim must be remanded because it is inextricably intertwined with the increased rating claim being remanded. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records for the period from January 2020 to the present.

2. Thereafter, schedule the Veteran for an examination (or telehealth interview, review of the record, etc., if an in-person examination is not feasible) by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected tinea pedis. The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran's disability under the rating criteria. The examiner must specifically state whether any treatment received by the Veteran, including topical triamcinolone treatment, represents systemic therapy. A complete rationale must be provided for any opinions offered.

3. After the above development, and any additionally indicated development, has been completed, readjudicate the TDIU claim. 

 

M.E. LARKIN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Robert J. Burriesci, 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.