Citation Nr: 21069218 Decision Date: 11/17/21 Archive Date: 11/17/21 DOCKET NO. 17-02 337 DATE: November 17, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable evaluation for eczema on the hands, neck, and groin is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from April 1969 to March 1973. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2015 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned at a hearing in August 2020. A transcript of the hearing is of record. The Board remanded this matter in November 2020 for additional development. The matter is now returned to the Board for further appellate review. In June 2011, the Veteran filed a claim for service connection for a rash on his hands. After developing the claim, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) issued a rating decision in September 2011 granting service connection for eczema on the Veteran's hands and neck. In August 2015, the Veteran submitted a service connection claim for eczema of the groin. The AOJ treated the August 2015 claim as an increased rating claim for his eczema and in an October 2015 rating decision denied a compensable rating for eczema on the Veteran's hands, neck, and groin. The Veteran filed a Notice of Disagreement in September 2016, the AOJ issued a Statement of the Case (SOC) in December 2016, and the Veteran submitted VA Form 9 in January 2017. The Board remanded this matter in November 2020 for additional development and the AOJ issued a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) in March 2021. After issuing the March 2021 SSOC, VA provided the Veteran an additional Skin Diseases examination in August 2021 and associated additional VA treatment records with the Veteran's claim. The AOJ has not provided a SSOC addressing the August 2021 VA examination nor the VA medical records. The Veteran has not provided a waiver of initial AOJ review of the records nor did he submit the previously unconsidered treatment records and VA examination, so they are not covered by the presumptive waiver provisions applicable to legacy appeals, which were previously codified at 38 U.S.C. § 7105(e). As a result, the issues on appeal must be remanded to the AOJ for initial consideration of the newly obtained evidence to ensure the Veteran is afforded due process. See 38 C.F.R. § 19.37(b); see also Disabled American Veterans v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 327 F. 3d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2003). In the November 2020 remand, the Board requested the AOJ send the Veteran a VA Form 21-4142, Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the Department of Veterans Affairs, so VA could obtain treatment records on the Veteran's behalf. The AOJ sent the Veteran multiple VA Form 21-4142s; however, the Veteran has not returned any. The Board will again request the AOJ provide the Veteran another opportunity to complete the form in an effort to provide the Veteran every opportunity to substantiate his claim. The Veteran is advised he must cooperate with the AOJ's efforts to obtain relevant evidence or VA will decide the issue on appeal based on the evidence of record. See Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 190, 193 (1991) (indicating the duty to assist is not always a one-way street). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify any private treatment he has received for his skin during the period on appeal that is not already of record and complete a VA Form 21-4142 foreach identified provider, to include the dermatologist in Worcester mentioned during his August 2020 Board hearing testimony. Make two requests for the authorized records from the identified unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Readjudicate the issue on appeal based on all the evidence of record, to include, but not limited to, the August 2021 Skin Diseases Disability Benefits Questionnaire associated with the claims file in August 2021 and all VA generated treatment records, taking any development action deemed necessary after review of such evidence. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, issue a SSOC and return the Veteran's case to the Board, if otherwise in order. M. HYLAND Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Zachery S.C. Luce, 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.