Citation Nr: 21028065
Decision Date: 05/10/21	Archive Date: 05/10/21

DOCKET NO. 14-20 917
DATE: May 10, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a gastrointestinal disability (other than a hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease), including diverticulitis and colonic polyps, to include as secondary to a claimed abortion procedure and medication for service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1974 to June 1976. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in January 2013 by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

The claim was last before the Board in July 2019, at which time it was denied. The Veteran appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In a December 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the parties agreed that the Board erred in its July 2019 decision when it relied on an October 2016 VA opinion concerning whether the Veteran's diverticulitis of the colon is related to the medications taken to treat her service-connected PTSD. 

In that opinion, a VA examiner determined that the Veteran's diverticulitis was less likely than not due to her medication, as it was a common condition in the United States that affects half of all people over the age of 60. However, as the parties to the JMR noted, the Veteran was first diagnosed with diverticulitis in 2005, when she was 51 years of age. Because the onset was prior the Veteran turning 60, the Board erred by relying on the opinion. 

The parties to the JMR agreed that a new opinion was warranted. The Board thus remands this matter to allow for such. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 312 (2007) (when VA undertakes to provide a VA examination or obtain a VA opinion, it must ensure that the examination or opinion is adequate).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Return the record to the VA examiner who authored the October 2016 examination report concerning the Veteran's diverticulitis. If the October 2016 examiner is not available, the record should be provided to another medical professional so as to render the requested opinion. The need for another clinical evaluation is left to the discretion of the medical professional offering the addendum opinion.

The examiner is asked to provide an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's diverticulitis of the colon is at least as likely as not (that is, 50 percent probability or more) proximately due to, or chronically aggravated by, a service-connected disability, specifically to include due to medications taken for PTSD.

The examiner should note and discuss the fact that the Veteran's diverticulitis of the colon had its onset before the Veteran turned 60 years old.

(Continued on the next page)

 

A detailed rationale is requested for all opinions given.

 

 

R. FEINBERG

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Jeremy J. Olsen, 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.