Citation Nr: 21006815 Decision Date: 02/05/21 Archive Date: 02/05/21 DOCKET NO. 19-32 366 DATE: February 5, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right eye condition is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty with the United States Army from January 1966 to January 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from an April 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. Entitlement to service connection for a right eye condition is remanded. The Board previously remanded this claim in July 2020, ordering a medical examination and opinions regarding the Veteran’s eye condition. A review of the medical evidence shows that such an examination was provided for the Veteran in September 2020. However, the examiner’s opinions are not sufficient for the Board to render a decision, and further development is necessary. Specifically, the Board asked the examiner to address a notation in the Veteran’s service medical treatment record in October 1967 indicating a slight opacity of the lens of his right eye during service, the Veteran’s report that his right eye vision worsened during service and his report of exposure, without eye protection, to hazardous materials, including trichloroethylene (TCE) while performing his in-service duties as a nuclear weapons handler. In pertinent part, the Board’s remand in July 2020 directed the examiner to consider and discuss such notation for any non-refractive errors found upon examination. The examiner’s opinion for the Veteran’s cataract condition indicated that the Veteran’s history of right eye opacity was more likely than not to be congenital. The examiner did not address the in-service notation of lens opacity. See September 2020 Compensation and Pension Examination. Once VA undertakes the effort to provide a medical examination or opinion, it must provide an adequate one. Barr v. Nicholson, 2 Vet. App. 303, 311-12 (2007). As the July 2020 VA examiner’s opinion did not address the notation of lens opacity in the Veteran’s service treatment records, further medical development is necessary before the Board may reach a decision. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination (or a telehealth interview, a review of the record, or other appropriate substitute for an in-person examination, if deemed sufficient in the event that an in-person examination is not feasible) to determine the nature and etiology of his eye condition. The examiner should indicate review the Veteran’s claim file, and provide an answer to the following question: (a.) For any diagnoses that are not classified as refractive errors, is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the condition was incurred in or is otherwise related to the Veteran’s active duty service, to include exposure to TCE? The examiner’s opinion should directly address the October 1967 notation in the Veteran’s service treatment records of slight opacity of lens surface on O.D. (right eye), and comment on whether such constituted an in-service manifestation of the Veteran’s present condition. The examiner should also discuss the Veteran’s report of exposure, without eye protection, to hazardous materials, including TCE, while performing his in-service duties as a nuclear weapons handler. The examiner’s opinion should also address the Veteran’s report that his right eye vision worsened during service. K. J. Alibrando Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Hermsdorfer, 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.