Citation Nr: 21064661
Decision Date: 10/21/21	Archive Date: 10/21/21

DOCKET NO. 14-41 099
DATE: October 21, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for headaches, to include facial numbness, to include as secondary to service in the Persian Gulf and/or as secondary to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or tinnitus, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from April 1984 to May 1993.

The Board remanded the issue on appeal for additional development in June 2021. The regional office (RO) was asked to obtain medical opinions concerning whether the Veteran's claimed headache disability is etiologically related to service, to include injuries or environmental exposures therein or is proximately due to or aggravated beyond its natural progression by his service-connected PTSD or tinnitus. In July 2021, a VA examiner proffered medical opinions in response to the remand directives. While she appropriately addressed whether the Veteran's claimed headache disability was aggravated by his service-connected tinnitus, she failed to address whether the Veteran's claimed headache disability was proximately due to his service-connected tinnitus. The Board thus finds that the July 2021 medical opinion did not substantially comply with the terms of the June 2021 remand. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. at 270-71. The Court held in Stegall that a remand by the Board confers on the appellant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with remand order. See Stegall, 11 Vet. App. at 268. A remand is warranted to obtain an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's claimed headache disability is proximately due to his service-connected tinnitus.    

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain an addendum medical opinion from the VA examiner who proffered the July 2021 medical opinion, if possible, (if she is unavailable, please use an appropriate clinician) addressing the following: whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's claimed headache disability is proximately due to his service-connected tinnitus. In responding to this inquiry, the examiner must adequately consider the Veteran's lay statements, including his belief that his headaches may be associated his with tinnitus. 

 

 

JENNIFER HWA

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	L. Bush

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.