Citation Nr: 21014020
Decision Date: 03/11/21	Archive Date: 03/11/21

DOCKET NO. 11-01 196
DATE: March 11, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for meralgia paresthetica, right lower extremity (RLE), due to obesity associated with service-connected disability is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for meralgia paresthetica, LLE, due to obesity associated with service-connected disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

In a March 2019 decision, see 03/25/2019 BVA Decision, the Board denied the appeal, and the Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In August 2020, while the appeal was pending, the Veteran, through counsel, and the Secretary, VA, submitted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) to vacate the March 2019 Board decision and remand the case to the Board for further review. See 08/10/2020 CAVC Decision, P. 2-7. In an Order also dated in August 2020, the Court vacated the March 2019 Board decision and remanded the case to the Board further review consistent with the JMR. Id. P. 8.

1. Entitlement to service connection for meralgia paresthetica, RLE, due to obesity associated with service-connected disability is remanded.

Prior to rendering the March 2019 decision, the Board obtained a medical opinion from an orthopedic spine surgeon on whether the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability caused his obesity and prevented him from exercising. The specialist opined that it did not. See 11/20/2018 BVA-General, 2nd Entry; 01/11/2019 BVA-General.

The consensus of the parties in the JMR was that a medical professional has not considered whether the Veteran’s past ingestion of prescribed Paxil to treat his service-connected mental disorder between 1999 and 2005 caused his obesity. See, e.g., 02/11/2020 CAPRI, 1st Entry, P. 95. Hence, the parties agreed in the JMR that VA did not completely fulfill its duty to assist the Veteran. See 08/10/2020 CAVC Decision, P. 2-7.

2. Entitlement to service connection for meralgia paresthetica, LLE, due to obesity associated with service-connected disability is remanded.

See 1, above.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

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The Agency of Original Jurisdiction shall send the claims file to an appropriate clinician to assess the impact, if any, of the Veteran’s ingestion of prescribed Paxil between 1999 and 2005. Inform the clinician that it has been determined that the Veteran’s obesity caused his meralgia paresthetica; and, that an orthopedic spine surgeon has opined that it is not at least as likely as not that the lumbar spine disability prevented the Veteran from exercising.

Ask the clinician to opine whether it is at least as likely as not (at least a 50 percent probability) that the Veteran’s ingestion of Paxil to treat his service-connected acquired mental disorder between 1999 and 2005 caused his obesity and precluded him from exercising to lose weight. Inform the clinician that a full explanation must be provided for any opinion rendered.

 

 

Eric S. Leboff

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	W. T. Snyder

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.