Citation Nr: A21020527
Decision Date: 12/27/21	Archive Date: 12/27/21

DOCKET NO. 200521-88406
DATE: December 27, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a skin condition, to include psoriasis, is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for a heart condition, to include atrial fibrillation, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served active duty from October 1979 to July 1981.

Of relevance to this appeal, on August 23, 2017, the President signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 115-55, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA).  The implementation date for AMA was February 19, 2019.  Under the AMA, an appeal can be perfected by submitting a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) using the appropriate form, VA Form 10182, directly to the Board of Veteran's Appeals (Board), and identifying the underlying unfavorable decision and issues with which the Veteran disagrees.

This matter comes before the Board from a May 2020 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) adjudicated under the AMA.  In the July 2020 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket.  

Entitlement to service connection for a skin condition, to include psoriasis, and a heart condition, to include atrial fibrillation, is remanded.

While additional delay is unfortunate, the Board finds that remand is necessary before a final decision can be made in these matters. 

The Veteran received VA examinations in connection with the claimed disabilities in October 2019.  During these examinations, the Veteran indicated that he has been receiving treatment for the claimed conditions, however, no treatment records have been associated with the file.  Accordingly, the Board finds the failure to obtain relevant outstanding treatment records a pre-decisional duty to assist error and that remand is warranted to obtain any outstanding treatment records.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.159 (c), 20.802(a).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for any relevant outstanding private treatment records.  Make two requests for the authorized records from any facility so identified, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile.

 

 

T. REYNOLDS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Gorum, 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.