Citation Nr: 21066351
Decision Date: 10/29/21	Archive Date: 10/29/21

DOCKET NO. 15-20 014
DATE: October 29, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1982 to August 1985.  

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

In January 2018, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board.  A transcript of the hearing is included in the electronic claims file and has been reviewed.

The TDIU claim on appeal stems from an increased rating claim for finger disability, which was a subject of the Board hearing, which has been subject to multiple Board actions, and which was subject to a remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  See Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447, 455 (2009).

In May 2021, the Board denied the claim of entitlement to an increased rating for finger disability but remanded the TDIU claim for additional development.  

Another remand of the TDIU claim warranted.  

The record indicates that the RO is currently considering a new claim of entitlement to a TDIU filed in October 2021, on the same day the RO returned to the Board the remanded TDIU claim.  In response to the new claim, the RO requested information from the Veteran which has yet to be provided.  Further, in October 2021, the RO provided VA examinations for service-connected back and digestive disabilities, for which reports are now of record.  

As such, the claim before the Board is intertwined with a matter pending before the RO.  A decision by the Board should be deferred.  See Smith v. Gober, 236 F.3d 1370, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2001).

The Board refers to the RO for possible adjudication a claim of entitlement to service connection for an anxiety disorder.  The Veteran has not filed a formal claim for such disability.  Nevertheless, he has argued that he is not employable due to service-connected back disability and related psychiatric illness.  Although the RO has denied on multiple occasions a claim of entitlement to service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder, it has not addressed a claim of entitlement to service connection for an anxiety disorder.  The Board also notes that the Social Security Administration has found the Veteran unemployable due to back and psychiatric problems.  

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The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Once the claim of entitlement to a TDIU pending before the RO has been finally decided, return the issue on appeal to the Board if in order.

 

 

G. A. WASIK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Christopher McEntee

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.