Citation Nr: 21022969 Decision Date: 04/19/21 Archive Date: 04/19/21 DOCKET NO. 17-09 423 DATE: April 19, 2021 REMANDED The claim of entitlement to a disability rating higher than 20 percent for a seizure disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to February 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of an August 2014 rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In February 2021, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board. A transcript of the hearing is included in the electronic claims file and has been reviewed. A remand of this matter is warranted for two reasons. First, an addendum medical report should be issued for the claim on appeal. The Veteran underwent VA compensation examination in March 2021 into his psychiatric state and the way in which it is impacted by the seizure disorder. The report addresses the current state of the seizure disorder and focuses primarily on its effect on the Veteran’s memory. In an addendum opinion, the examiner should provide a retrospective opinion regarding the nature of the seizure disorder since the claim for increased rating in April 2014. Second, the claim for increase here is intertwined with a claim of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) currently pending before the RO, as indicated in a March 2021 rating decision. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Undertake appropriate development to obtain any outstanding records pertinent to the claim. Include in the claims file any outstanding VA treatment records. The most recent records are dated in October 2020. Note that the Veteran indicated during the Board hearing that he had received treatment recently at multiple VA facilities. All records/responses received must be associated with the claims file. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. 2. Return the case to the VA examiner who conducted the March 2021 VA examination, or to a suitable substitute, for issuance of an addendum report addressing the claim on appeal. After reviewing the claims file, the examiner should provide a retrospective medical opinion addressing the following question: Annually, how many major and minor seizures has the Veteran experienced since April 2014? See 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8911. In answering this question, include any seizures that may have related to a brain tumor since then, unless the examiner can distinguish such seizures from seizures related to service-connected disability. Please explain in detail any opinion provided and the supporting rationale. In rendering the requested opinion, the examiner should note that the Veteran is competent to attest to matters of which he has first-hand knowledge, including observable symptomatology. If there is a medical basis to support or doubt the history provided by the Veteran and any other lay witnesses, the examiner should indicate this in the examination report and provide a rationale for that determination. In remanding this case, the Board makes no credibility determination, expressed or implied, at this juncture. (Continued on the next page)   If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he or she shall provide a complete explanation for why an opinion cannot be rendered. In so doing, the examiner shall explain whether the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, or that he or she has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to that particular question(s). 3. Readjudicate the claim on appeal once the TDIU claim has been finally resolved. Then return the claim on appeal to the Board if warranted. G. A. WASIK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Christopher McEntee, 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.