Citation Nr: 21008001 Decision Date: 02/11/21 Archive Date: 02/11/21 DOCKET NO. 16-26 333 DATE: February 11, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, to include as due to Agent Orange exposure, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, to include as due to Agent Orange exposure, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from September 1965 to June 1967, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam from January 1966 to June 1967. In November 2018 and June 2020, the Board remanded the issues on appeal for additional development. Specifically, the Board observed the October 2013 examiner’s determination that, despite the Veteran’s statements and the concurrent diagnosis of peripheral bilateral upper and lower extremities based on these statements, he could not confirm a relationship with Agent Orange exposure, recommending that EMG and MRI studies of the Veteran’s cervical and lumbar spine be performed. The remand directives requested that such studies be performed prior to the proffer of an etiological opinion. While new VA examinations were provided in September 2019 and December 2020, the record does not reflect that these studies were performed; all references of EMG studies in the examination reports are from December 2003 and these studies were normal. Remand by the Board confers upon the Veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the Board’s remand order. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 270-71 (1998). Therefore, in accordance with Stegall, remand for full compliance with the Board’s prior remands is warranted. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate any outstanding VA and private treatment records with the claims file. 2. After obtaining the necessary authorization from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the claims file any identified relevant private medical records. All attempts to secure these records must be documented in the record. If any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran should be notified of such in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (e). 3. After the foregoing development has been completed to the extent possible, schedule the Veteran for a VA neurological examination. The examiner should review the record and elicit information from the Veteran as to when he first observed symptoms of numbness and tingling in his extremities. All indicated tests must be conducted, to include new EMG and MRI studies as recommended by the October 2013 VA examiner, and the results reported in full. 4. After examining the Veteran and reviewing the record, together with the results all electrodiagnostic testing, the examiner should offer an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., whether it is 50 percent or more probable) that any diagnosed the neuropathy of the Veteran’s left upper and left lower extremities can properly be considered “early onset” peripheral neuropathy; if so, whether it was manifested to a compensable degree within one year of the Veteran’s departure from Vietnam; and if not, whether it had its onset in, or is otherwise attributable to, the Veteran’s period of active service, to include his presumed in-service exposure to herbicides. A complete medical rationale for all opinions expressed must be provided. JENNIFER HWA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board L. Bush 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.