Citation Nr: 21068053
Decision Date: 11/09/21	Archive Date: 11/09/21

DOCKET NO. 18-34 257
DATE: November 9, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disability, to include Legg-Calve Perthes (LCP) disease is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1976 to May 1977. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Cleveland, Ohio. The Veteran testified in a February 2021 hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. This matter was remanded for additional development in April 2021. The Board notes that, to the full extent possible, VA complied with all prior remand instruction requests, and there exist no deficiencies in VA's duties to notify and assist in that regard. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The matter has returned to the Board for further appellate review.

Regrettably, another remand is necessary. During the February 2021 Board hearing, the Veteran's representative reported the Veteran has a chronic disability that keeps him from working and he has applied for and been granted Social Security benefits. A thorough review of the claims file reveals a June 2021 Social Security Administration (SSA) inquiry result that confirms receipt of disability benefits. The Board is unable to identify any records from the SSA in the claims file. SSA disability determinations are not controlling on VA, but they are pertinent to the adjudication of a claim for VA benefits, and VA has a duty to assist the Veteran in gathering these records. Hayes v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 67, 74 (1996). VA need only obtain "relevant" SSA disability records, which, under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A, are those records that relate to the injury for which the appellant is seeking benefits and have a reasonable possibility of helping to substantiate the claim. Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2010).  

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain and associate with the claims folder the SSA records pertaining to the Veteran's claim for benefits, to include any determinations and the medical records used in support of his claim. All attempts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims folder. Efforts to obtain the requested records should be ended only if it is concluded that the records sought do not exist or that further efforts to obtain those records would be futile. If they cannot be located or no such records exist, the Veteran should be notified in writing.

 

 

A. C. MACKENZIE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Banks, Associate 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.