Citation Nr: 21074338
Decision Date: 12/15/21	Archive Date: 12/14/21

DOCKET NO. 17-58 521
DATE: December 15, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a lung condition is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served in the Navy from August 1960 to March 1964. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2016 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2018, the Veteran testified at a videoconference Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of that proceeding is of record. 

Most recently, in an October 2020 decision, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for a lung condition. The Veteran appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2021, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) and vacated the October 2020 Board's denial of entitlement to service connection for a lung condition. The case was returned to the Board for development consistent with the JMR.

This appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c); 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2).

1. Entitlement to service connection for a lung condition is remanded.

In the JMR, the parties found that the record indicates that there are outstanding treatment records. Specifically, at his December 2019 VA examination, the Veteran stated he had been treated for pneumonia and discharged four days earlier at St. Michael's Hospital in Texarkana, Texas. Treatment at that facility was also mentioned in the Veteran's VA treatment records.  However, there are no treatment records addressing this hospitalization or from St. Michael's Hospital associated with the claims file. Therefore, on remand, efforts must be made to obtain all outstanding treatment records.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to provide completed release forms with the names and addresses of all medical care providers who have treated him for his lung condition,   to include St. Michael's Hospital.  After securing any necessary releases, request any relevant records identified. In addition, obtain updated VA treatment records. If any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified of such.

2. If the claim remains denied, issue a statement of the case.

 

 

K. A. BANFIELD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	G. N. Wilson, 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.