Citation Nr: 21014773 Decision Date: 03/15/21 Archive Date: 03/15/21 DOCKET NO. 05-27 047 DATE: March 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for asthma is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1974 to January 1976, followed by service in the National Guard through 2004, with various periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty for training. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a February 2005 rating decision which continued to deny service connection for asthma. In March 2008 and October 2010, the Board remanded for further development. In July 2012, the Board denied the claim, but this decision was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) in April 2013. In January 2014, June 2015, and March 2016, the Board remanded for further development. In October 2017, the Board denied the claim, but this decision was vacated by CAVC in April 2018. In September 2018, the Board denied the claim, but this decision was vacated by CAVC in January 2020. In September 2020, the Board remanded for further development. The Board notes that VA treatment records were added to the Veteran’s claims file after this case was certified to the Board. A review of the record shows that agency of jurisdiction (AOJ) did not have the opportunity to review this new evidence or issue a supplemental statement of the case. However, as the Board is remanding this case, the AOJ will have an opportunity to review the evidence such that no prejudice results to the Veteran as a result of the Board’s consideration of this evidence for the limited purpose of issuing a comprehensive and thorough remand. Entitlement to service connection for asthma is remanded. The January 2020 CAVC remand identified two separate in-service incidents raised by the Veteran that could have given rise to, or aggravated, his asthma. First, the Veteran alleges that exposure to exhaust and chemicals throughout his active duty service, to include exposure to the gas chamber, aggravated his asthma beyond its natural progression. Second, the Veteran alleges that exhaust exposure during a specific June 1978 period of ACDUTRA caused him to suffer an asthma attack and permanently aggravated his asthma. The CAVC found that the September 2018 Board decision considered only the second in-service incident and that remand was required to address the Veteran’s allegations that prolonged exposure to exhaust and/or exposure to the gas chamber, rather than the singular June 1978 incident, aggravated his asthma. The Board finds that it cannot make a fully-informed decision at this time. Following the September 2020 Board remand, the Veteran underwent a VA examination in November 2020. The VA examiner did not provide an opinion on exposure to multiple chemicals or the gas chamber. On remand, the examiner must address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s pre-existing asthma underwent a permanent increase in disability beyond the natural progression of the disease during the Veteran’s periods of active duty service and/or ACDUTRA caused by prolonged exposure to multiple chemicals and the gas chamber. While the Veteran has generally alleged exposure to multiple chemicals in the May 2016 VA Form 9 and to the gas chamber in the February 2016 VA Form 21-4138, the circumstances of these exposures needs additional development. On remand, the Veteran should be provided with a VA Form 21-4138 to identify the circumstances of these exposures, to include the names of the chemicals, the dates of the exposure to these chemicals and the gas chamber, and the extent of the exposure to these chemicals and the gas chamber. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Provide the Veteran with a VA Form 21-4138 to identify the circumstances of his alleged exposures to multiple chemicals and the gas chamber, to include the names of the chemicals, the dates of the exposure to these chemicals and the gas chamber, and the extent of the exposure to these chemicals and the gas chamber. (Continued on the next page).   2. After providing the Veteran with 30 days to respond, obtain an addendum opinion from the November 2020 VA examiner, if available, or from an appropriate clinician. The examiner must address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s pre-existing asthma underwent a permanent increase in disability beyond the natural progression of the disease during the Veteran’s periods of active duty service and/or ACDUTRA caused by prolonged exposure to multiple chemicals and the gas chamber. The examiner should consider the Veteran’s lay evidence, to include the February 2016 VA Form 21-4138, the May 2016 VA Form 9, and any statements received in response to this remand. K. Parakkal Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Ormson, 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.