Citation Nr: 21020780
Decision Date: 04/08/21	Archive Date: 04/08/21

DOCKET NO. 11-13 639
DATE: April 8, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from August 2007 to October 2009.

The Veteran passed away in October 2009, and the appellant is the guardian of the Veteran’s minor son.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2010 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

This matter was previously before the Board in May 2014, July 2017, and June 2018.

The matter returns to the Board for appellate consideration. 

Entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death is remanded.

Although the Board regrets the delay, another remand is required before an appellate decision can be rendered.

The Board remanded the claim in June 2018 for the RO to obtain, associate, and consider evidence in the first instance identified by a March 2018 VA examiner, particularly the Department of Defense (DoD) mental health treatment records which were noted to be “available in JLV.”  Those records were obtained and are associated with the claims file.  A close review of the claims file, however, reveals that the RO has not issued a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) addressing the newly obtained evidence.  As such, a remand is warranted to accomplish this development.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Obtain all updated VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file.  All efforts to obtain such records should be documented in the claims file.

2.  Send the Appellant a SSOC that addresses the issue of service connection for the Veteran’s cause of death and indicates review of the DoD treatment records and any other relevant evidence associated with the claims file since the March 2018 SSOC. 

Signature on the next page

 

 

DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Y. Asfaw, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.