Citation Nr: 21016160 Decision Date: 03/22/21 Archive Date: 03/22/21 DOCKET NO. 14-31 973A DATE: March 22, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a stomach disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, to include as secondary to a stomach disability, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from October 1968 to May 1970. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of an August 2012 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2018, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for additional development. The case is once again before the Board. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a stomach disability is remanded. 2. Entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, to include as secondary to a stomach disability, is remanded. The Board is required to ensure substantial compliance with its remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). In the last remand, the Board directed the RO to request and associate with the claims file the Veteran’s Army Reserve medical treatment and personnel records. The Veteran’s Department of Defense Form 214 (DD-214) shows he transferred to the Army Reserve in May 1970 with an expected terminal date of October 1974. If the records from that time were unavailable or further attempts to obtain them would be futile, the Board instructed the RO to make a formal finding of unavailability. On remand, the RO submitted a request through the Personnel Information Exchange System (PIES) seeking the Veteran’s complete service treatment records (STRs) and entire personnel file at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). In response, the RO received the Veteran’s active-duty military personnel records. It included a September 1974 discharge letter but no other records from the Veteran’s Reserve service (May 1970 to October 1974). No additional development was conducted. It may be that this is all there is. If so, the RO must make a formal finding saying so. If not, the RO must obtain the additional records. Because the Board’s remand directives have not been substantially complied with, remand is necessary. Stegall, 11 Vet. App. at 271. Remand is further warranted to ensure the Veteran is afforded full compliance with the statutory duty to assist. VA must “make reasonable efforts to assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate the claimant’s claim for a benefit.” 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(a)(1). As part of the duty to assist, VA must, in appropriate cases, obtain relevant records from a Federal department or agency, such as the Social Security Administration (SSA). 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2). In August 2011, the Veteran reported that he was “approved for SS” during a mental health consult. The following November, a VA examiner noted that the Veteran retired due to his esophageal cancer and that he brought paperwork showing he “received retirement from SSDI.” Although not a model of clarity, “[i]n close or uncertain cases, the VA should be guided by the principles underlying this uniquely pro-claimant system.” Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317, 1323 (Fed. Cir. 2010). Here, there exists a reasonable possibility that the Veteran’s SSA records could help him substantiate his claim for benefits. Id. To date, those records have not been associated with the claims file, nor does it appear that an attempt has been made to obtain them. Because the Veteran’s SSA records may contain evidence relevant to the claim on appeal, a remand is necessary to allow VA to request them. Id. Finally, as the case is being remanded for additional development, any outstanding VA treatment records should be associated with the claims file. See Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611, 613 (1992) (per curiam). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file. 2. Obtain a copy of any decision to grant or deny SSA benefits to the Veteran and the medical records upon which that decision was based and associate them with the claims file. If the search for such records has negative results, the claims file must be properly documented as to the unavailability of those records. 3. Obtain the Veteran’s U.S. Army Reserve service treatment records and personnel records. Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the claims file. If the RO concludes that the records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain these records would be futile, the claims file must be properly documented as to the unavailability of those records. M. Donohue Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Canedy, 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.