Citation Nr: 21009365 Decision Date: 02/22/21 Archive Date: 02/22/21 DOCKET NO. 18-27 140 DATE: February 22, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for right eye disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left eye disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right shoulder disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left shoulder disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right leg disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left leg disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for right arm disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for left arm disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1963 to January 1966. These matters initially came before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a February 2016 rating decision. In October 2019, the Board issued a decision denying the issues considered herein. The Veteran appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In September 2020, the Court issued an Order vacating the October 2019 Board decision and remanding the issues for readjudication consistent with a September 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) filed by counsel for the Veteran and the VA Secretary. 1. Entitlement to service connection for right eye disability is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service connection for left eye disability is remanded. 3. Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded. 4. Entitlement to service connection for right shoulder disability is remanded. 5. Entitlement to service connection for left shoulder disability is remanded. 6. Entitlement to service connection for right knee disability is remanded. 7. Entitlement to service connection for left knee disability is remanded. 8. Entitlement to service connection for right leg disability is remanded. 9. Entitlement to service connection for left leg disability is remanded. 10. Entitlement to service connection for right arm disability is remanded. 11. Entitlement to service connection for left arm disability is remanded. The parties to the September 2020 JMR agreed that the Board erred by not ensuring that relevant records from the Social Security Administration (SSA) were obtained. Specifically, results from an August 2019 SSA inquiry indicate a disability onset date for the Veteran of November 1990. However, there is no indication that relevant records were requested from the SSA. The issues on appeal must be remanded so that efforts may be made to obtain the Veteran’s outstanding relevant SSA records. Additionally, the Board notes that the record for review may be incomplete. The most recent VA treatment records in the claims file are from the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System (dated to February 2016), the Tampa Vista electronic records system (dated to June 2015), and the Lexington Vista electronic records system (dated to March 2018). VA treatment records, even if not in the claims file, are considered part of the record on appeal because they are within VA’s constructive possession. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A; Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). On remand, updated VA treatment records must be obtained and associated with the record. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify the location and name of any VA or private medical facility where he has received treatment for eye disability, diabetes mellitus, shoulder disability, knee disability, leg disability, and arm disability, to include the dates of any such treatment. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for all records of his treatment for eye disability, diabetes mellitus, shoulder disability, knee disability, leg disability, and arm disability from any sufficiently identified private treatment provider from whom records have not already been obtained. Make two requests for any authorized records, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Obtain the Veteran’s outstanding VA treatment records from the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System for the period since February 2016; the Tampa Vista electronic records system for the period since June 2015; the Lexington Vista electronic records system for the period since March 2018; and all such relevant records from any other sufficiently identified VA facility. 3. Contact the SSA and request all relevant records relating to the Veteran’s claim(s) for disability and/or supplemental security income benefits. Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the claims file. Brian J. Elwood Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. G. LeMoine, 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.