Citation Nr: 21066438
Decision Date: 11/01/21	Archive Date: 11/01/21

DOCKET NO. 09-23 234
DATE: November 1, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active duty service from July 1967 to February 1969. 

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

The claim was last remanded by the Board in May 2021. Transcripts of the Veteran's testimony at hearings before a Decision Review Officer in August 2011 and before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in December 2014 are of record.  

1. Entitlement to a TDIU is remanded.

A VA Form 21-4192 was received after the most recent supplemental statement    of the case (SSOC) was issued and before the claim was recertified to the Board. Remand is needed for RO consideration of this evidence in the first instance. 

 

The RO appears to be developing claims for service connection for ischemic heart disease, entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, and entitlement to a rating higher than 10 percent for type II diabetes mellitus with hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction.  As this development may impact the claim for entitlement to a TDIU, it should be deferred until that action is completed by the RO.

The Veteran's attorney should also be asked to resubmit the VA Form 21-8940 that was reportedly submitted in conjunction with an August 16, 2021, letter, but was not attached. 

Additionally, on the May 2021 VA Form 21-8940, the Veteran provided the address for a local motel where he worked as a front desk clerk in 2019. On remand, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) should contact the motel at the address provided on the form and ask them to complete the VA Form 21-4192. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran's attorney to resubmit the VA Form 21-8940 that was reportedly submitted in conjunction with an August 16, 2021, letter, but was not attached.

2. Send a VA Form 21-4192 to the motel employer listed on the May 2021 VA Form 21-8940 and ask the employer to complete the form for the Veteran's employment in 2019. 

3. Once development of the claims for service connection for ischemic heart disease, entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, and entitlement to a rating higher than 10 percent for type II diabetes mellitus with hypogonadism and erectile dysfunction is complete,  issue a SSOC that considers all the evidence associated with the record since the August 2021 SSOC was issued.

 

 

K. A. BANFIELD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Van Wambeke, 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.