Citation Nr: 21069627 Decision Date: 11/19/21 Archive Date: 11/19/21 DOCKET NO. 15-12 444 DATE: November 19, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for residuals of cellulitis, to include dizziness, claimed as blood poisoning due to infection, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from May 1998 to May 2002. This appeal was last before the Board in June 2020 when it was denied. The Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) and the Court issued a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) in July 2021. The JMR found that the adequacy of the May 2019 VA examiner's opinion, which the Board relied on in the denial, was in question. Thus, the Board must remand for an addendum opinion. Stegall v. West,11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Of note, the Veteran attended a Videoconference Hearing in March 2017 before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge, and a transcript of that proceeding has been associated with the file. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of cellulitis, to include dizziness, claimed as blood poisoning due to infection, is remanded. The Veteran asserts that his dizziness is a residual symptom of his in-service cellulitis and IV antibiotics treatment, which he has claimed caused blood poisoning. The Board had previously remanded this claim for a medical nexus opinion. In the May 2019 medical opinion, the examiner opined that the Veteran's claimed residuals from cellulitis, including dizziness, are less likely than not caused by the claimed in-service injury of cellulitis and its treatment. The examiner explained that the Veteran's in-service right-hand cellulitis had completely resolved and, that, "to say that the dizziness was caused by the cellulitis is not scientifically possible. While there is a reason for his chronic dizziness, it is not due to a resolved skin infection of his hand." The examiner also explained that the Veteran does not have, and has not had, a diagnosis of blood poisoning, as cellulitis is not blood poisoning. He supported this conclusion with references from the Mayo Clinic and the Merck Manual. However, although the examiner noted that the Veteran has complained "of dizziness 18 years after his right-hand cellulitis," the examiner also wrote that the Veteran had not been evaluated for dizziness and, "never mentioned it to any health care provider ...until he came for [his] Compensation Exam today." As the Veteran's treatment records show that his dizziness has been attributed to a diagnosis of Bell's Palsy in a July 2015 VA treatment note, this conclusion is based on inaccurate facts, in that the Veteran has received treatment for his Bell's Palsy related dizziness in July 2015. Accordingly, per the JMR, the Board must obtain a nexus opinion that takes into account all the evidence of record. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran's dizziness is at least as likely as not related to his in-service cellulitis diagnosis and IV antibiotics treatment. In so doing, the opinion must address the Veteran's diagnosis and treatment for dizziness as part of a Bell's Palsy diagnosis in July 2015 as it regards his assertion that he has experienced dizziness since April 2001 when he complained of "dizziness when he gets up from lying down, after working out" at a follow up appointment for his cellulitis treatment and as he reiterated in the May 2019 VA Ear Conditions examination. The examiner should provide a complete rationale for opinions expressed as the Board is precluded from making medical determinations. T. REYNOLDS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board L. Nelson 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.