Citation Nr: 21076265
Decision Date: 12/22/21	Archive Date: 12/22/21

DOCKET NO. 17-36 249
DATE: December 22, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a lung condition, to include interstitial lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from November 1966 to November 1968.  He had service in the Republic of Vietnam and exposure to herbicides has been conceded. See VA Memo (January 2020).

The Veteran died in June 2019.  The Appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse and has been substituted as the claimant. See Notification Letter (April 2020).

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  In March 2019 and September 2021, the Board remanded the case for additional development. 

Entitlement to service connection for a lung condition, to include interstitial lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is remanded.

In September 2021, the Board remanded the appeal. The Board's directives included: "Obtain and associate with the claims file the Veteran's treatment records scanned into the VistA imaging system." The requested development was not conducted and the October 2021 Supplemental Statement of Case does not explain why the development was not completed or, indeed, acknowledge that requested development action. Therefore, remand is required. A remand by the Board imposes upon the Secretary of VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the terms of the remand. Where remand orders of the Board are not complied with, the Board errs in failing to ensure compliance. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998).  

Accordingly, the matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain and associate with the claims file all the Veteran's private treatment records scanned into the VistA imaging system.

 

 

C.A. SKOW

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	E.D. Anderson, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.