Citation Nr: 21027030 Decision Date: 05/04/21 Archive Date: 05/04/21 DOCKET NO. 15-29 725 DATE: May 4, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for night sweats, diagnosed as hyperhidrosis, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from July 1986 to January 1992, including service in Southwest Asia. The matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2013 rating decision. In August 2018 and September 2020, the Board remanded the appeal, in pertinent part, for an opinion to help determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed night sweats. An additional remand is required to comply with the Board's remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). Entitlement to service connection for night sweats is remanded. A remand by the Board confers upon the Veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand instructions, and imposes upon VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the terms of the remand. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). An October 2019 VA mental disorders examination did not discuss the Veteran's complaints of night sweats. A February 2021 VA skin examination diagnosed hyperhidrosis, or excessive perspiration. While the examiner indicated that this was a preexisting condition, she stated that she was not able to provide a rational for the night sweats and advised a psychiatric evaluation to see if it was a residual symptom of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability. A follow-up psychiatric examination was not requested. Absent any rational, the Board finds that the February 2021 opinion is not adequate. A remand is required to obtain an addendum opinion from the February 2021 examiner and to afford the Veteran a new VA psychiatric examination to address claimed night sweats. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination for hyperhidrosis, claimed night sweats. The examiner must review the claims file. If a diagnosis cannot be provided but the Veteran's condition manifests in symptoms that cause functional impairment, then the examiner should consider them a "disability" for the purpose of providing the requested opinion(s) below. The examiner is asked to provide a response to the following: Are the Veteran's night sweats at least as likely as not proximately due to service-connected unspecified depressive disorder or other psychiatric diagnoses? Are night sweats at least as likely as not aggravated by service-connected unspecified depressive disorder or other psychiatric diagnoses? 2. Obtain an addendum opinion from the February 2021 VA examiner or other appropriate clinician regarding whether hyperhidrosis, claimed as night sweats, is at least as likely as not, caused or aggravated by service. The examiner must include a complete rational for any opinion rendered. The Board notes that because night sweats were not noted at enlistment, the Veteran is presumed to be sound with respect to such disability at service entrance. If the above opinion cannot be made without resort to speculation, the examiner must state so and provide a rational for this conclusion, including an explanation of whether there is any potentially available information that, if obtained, would allow for a non-speculative opinion. TRACIE N. WESNER Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Christine C. Kung 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.