Citation Nr: 21026583
Decision Date: 05/03/21	Archive Date: 05/03/21

DOCKET NO. 17-55 936
DATE: May 3, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), to include as due to ionizing radiation exposure, is remanded. 

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from October 1955 to October 1959 and from December 1959 to July 1977. 

This matter was previously remanded by the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) in March 2019. In April 2020 the Board denied service connection MDS. This denial was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (the Court). In November 2020, the Court entered a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the Board's denial because of an inadequate statement of reasons or bases for its decision. Specifically, the Court found error with the Board's failure to adequately address a portion of a November 2015 private medical opinion from the Veteran's private treating oncologist which stated, "It is noteworthy that [Veteran] first developed mild pancytopenia at a relatively young age, and there has been no clear chromosomal progression over a 20 year period." 

Considering the Court's finding of error and that there is no VA medical opinion of record addressing a direct service connection theory of entitlement for MDS, a remand is warranted for a VA medical opinion before this claim can be adjudicated. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Forward the Veteran's claims file to a qualified clinician with an expertise in hematology/oncology for a VA addendum medical opinion regarding the question below. The relevant documents in the record should be made available to the examiner, who should indicate on the examination report that he/she has reviewed the documents. 

Examination of the Veteran is not required unless the examiner determines that an examination is necessary to provide a reliable opinion. If an examination is required, a detailed history of relevant symptoms should be obtained from the Veteran. A rationale for all opinions and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved should be provided.

The VA examiner should offer the following opinions:

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(a.) Whether it as least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's MDS is causally related to his active service. 

In answering this prompt the examiner MUST consider and address in detail the following comment from the Veteran's private treating oncologist, "It is noteworthy that [Veteran] first developed mild pancytopenia at a relatively young age, and there has been no clear chromosomal progression over a 20 year period.

 

 

Jennifer White

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Kyle McKone

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.