Citation Nr: 21028227 Decision Date: 05/10/21 Archive Date: 05/10/21 DOCKET NO. 17-56 373 DATE: May 10, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for residuals of a neck injury to include cervical strain is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served October 1985 to October 1988. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2017 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) Houston, Texas. In September 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing conducted by the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the Veteran's file. This claim was previously before the Board in February 2019. The issue was remanded for additional development to include a VA examination. In November 2019, the issue returned to the Board and it was denied. The Veteran appealed the denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In September 2020, the parties filed a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) vacating the Board's decision denying entitlement to service connection for residuals of a neck injury to include cervical strain. The parties found that the Board erred when it failed to offer adequate reasons or bases when addressing the medical and lay evidence of continued symptomatology since active duty service. Specifically, the JMR found the Board failed to adequately address relevant evidence showing chronic symptoms in light of the Veteran's lay statements. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of a neck injury to include cervical strain is remanded. The Veteran seeks service connection for residuals of a neck injury to include cervical strain. As provided above, the parties to the JMR determined the Board's decision should be vacated and remanded for adjudication consistent with the motion. The Veteran's representative argues the matter should be remanded to provide the Veteran with an adequate medical opinion that takes into consideration his credible lay statements regarding the continuity of his symptomatology. Therefore, the Board finds a remand is necessary in order to obtain an additional VA examination and etiological opinion The matters are REMANDED for the following actions: Provide the Veteran with an appropriate VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's neck injury to include cervical strain. The reviewing examiner must review the entire claims file to include the Veteran's credible statements regarding a continuity of symptomatology since separating from service. Thereafter, the examiner must provide an opinion regarding whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that his neck injury to include cervical strain was caused by or related at least in part to the hatch falling on the Veteran's head while serving about the USS Prairie. The examiner must address the Veteran's credible lay statements regarding a continuity of symptoms since separating from service. Michael J. Skaltsounis Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. DeBoer, 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.