Citation Nr: 21028126
Decision Date: 05/10/21	Archive Date: 05/10/21

DOCKET NO. 10-27 286A
DATE: May 10, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from April 1966 to April 1968.

This matter was previously before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) in December 2020, at which time the Board remanded the matter to undertake notice and evidentiary development needed to resolve the issue of entitlement to a TDIU. 

The Board notes that per the December 2020 remand, the RO was to further develop and substantiate the Veteran's claim for TDIU. In September 2019 and again in December 2020, the Regional Office (RO) sent the Veteran a letter notifying him of the evidence needed to establish a TDIU, sending the requisite VA Form 21-8940. The Veteran did not respond. 

In a March 2021 rating decision, the RO denied entitlement to a TDIU because the Veteran did not complete the VA Form 21-8940. 

While the RO has adjudicated the issue of entitlement to a TDIU, the Board finds that all development necessary has not been completed. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The Board cannot make an informed decision on TDIU without an examination. As such, the Veteran should be scheduled with an appropriate VA examiner to evaluate the issue of TDIU. Additionally, the Veteran should be provided an additional opportunity to complete and submit a VA Form 21-8940.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Provide the Veteran with a VA Form 21-8940 and ask that he complete and return the form.  Also ask him to identify relevant medical treatment records that would address his service connected disabilities, which records should be sought.   

2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to evaluate the impairments resulting from his service connected disabilities.  Provide the Veteran's claims file to the examiner/s.  All indicated tests and studies are to be performed; a social, educational, and occupational history should be obtained. 

Following evaluation of the Veteran, the examiner/s should identify the limitations imposed on the Veteran by his service-connected disabilities (i.e., prostate cancer and its residuals, abdominal pain, and posttraumatic stress disorder). 

(Continued on the next page)

 

3. After completing the above actions, to include any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraphs, the Veteran's claims should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence.

 

 

MICHAEL E. KILCOYNE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	V. Geer, Associate 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.