Citation Nr: 21063402
Decision Date: 10/14/21	Archive Date: 10/14/21

DOCKET NO. 16-41 862
DATE: October 14, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to April 4, 2017, is remanded.

REFERRED

The issues of entitlement to increased ratings for the depressive disorder, hypertension, left ankle disability, reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle, and scar of the left ankle were raised in a February 2019 Board hearing and are referred to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for adjudication.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from August 2007 to April 2010. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office (RO). 

In February 2019, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing held before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge, and a transcript of that hearing has been associated with the electronic claims file.

In May 2019, the Board remanded the claim of entitlement to TDIU for further development.  

In a June 2021 rating decision, a RO granted TDIU effective April 4, 2017.  In July 2021, a RO issued a supplemental statement of the case on the issue of entitlement to TDIU prior to April 4, 2017.

In the May 2019 remand, the Board directed the RO to conduct an examination regarding the reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle and the degenerative joint disease of the left ankle.  The Veteran underwent a VA orthopedic examination in June 2021 that addressed the degenerative joint disease.  That examination, however, did not address the reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle.  In light of the above, the RO did not comply with the directives of the May 2019 Board remand.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). 

The RO should obtain any additional records from the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System from July 2021 to the present.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to identify all treatment for his depressive disorder, hypertension, degenerative joint disease of the left ankle, reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle, scar of the left ankle, and other disability pertaining to his TDIU claim, and obtain any identified records.

Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records from the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System from July 2021 to the present.

2. After the development in 1 is completed, schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle.  The examiner should provide an opinion concerning the impact of the reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the left ankle on the ability to work.

3. After the development in 1 and 2 is completed, the RO should undertake any necessary development on the TDIU claim as warranted by the evidence of record.

4. After development above has been completed, the AOJ should readjudicate the Veteran's claim.  If the claim remains denied, the Veteran should be issued a supplemental statement of the case, with a copy to his representative, and afforded an opportunity to respond.

 

MICHAEL LANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Cherry, 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.