Citation Nr: 21027524
Decision Date: 05/06/21	Archive Date: 05/05/21

DOCKET NO. 14-08 798
DATE: May 6, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for a respiratory disability, to include as secondary to an undiagnosed illness, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active duty in the Army from November 1968 to November 1971, September 1974 to August 1983, January 1990 to December 1990, and January 1991 to May 1991, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam and Southwest Asia.

The issue is on appeal from an April 2011 rating decision and was last remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) in September 2020.

1. Service connection for a respiratory disability, to include as secondary to an undiagnosed illness, is remanded.

Per the September 2020 remand instructions, the Veteran was afforded VA examinations for a respiratory disability in February 2021.  He was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), restrictive lung disease, and allergic rhinitis.  The examiner noted the Veteran had been diagnosed with granuloma of the lung in 2010, but the condition had resolved since then as the Veteran reported that he did not currently have any respiratory symptoms and was not receiving treatment for a respiratory condition at the time of the examination.

Although the September 2020 examiner provided negative etiology opinions for the diagnoses of COPD, restrictive lung disease, and allergic rhinitis and the Veteran's active duty, the examiner explicitly did not provide an etiology opinion regarding the granuloma of the lung because it had resolved.

A disability that exists recent to the filing of a claim or during pendency of the appeal, even if resolved, can satisfy the current disability requirement for service connection.  See McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007); see also Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013).

Therefore, as granuloma of the lung is considered a current disability, an addendum medical opinion should be obtained from the September 2020 examiner as to whether the Veteran's granuloma of the lung is etiologically related to his active duty.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Refer the Veteran's entire claims file to the September 2020 VA examiner or another medical professional of appropriate expertise to provide an addendum opinion on the nature and etiology of the Veteran's granuloma of the lung.  The claims file and a copy of this REMAND should be made available to the examiner for review.

After record review, the VA examiner should offer his/her/their opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e 50 percent or greater) that the Veteran's granuloma of the lung, diagnosed in 2010, was incurred in, caused by, or is otherwise related to the Veteran's active duty, to include conceded environmental exposures in Southwest Asia.

Any opinions provided should include sufficient rationale.

2. Readjudicate the appeal.

 

 

L. M. BARNARD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Lee

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.