Citation Nr: 21028687
Decision Date: 05/11/21	Archive Date: 05/11/21

DOCKET NO. 15-26 072
DATE: May 11, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for a back disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active military service from June 1968 to June 1970, and subsequent periods of National Guard service between October 1975 and November 1994.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a May 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas.

Recently, the Board remanded, in part, for obtaining VA treatment records prior to September 2013, and for scheduling a VA examination/obtaining a medical nexus opinion. Regrettably, the Board finds that there has not been substantial compliance with the Board remand directives, and finds another remand is required for the following reasons. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998).

Despite the July 2018 Board remand directive, which specifically instructed the examiner to opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater) that the Veteran has a back disability related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including monthly drills, duties, and training in the National Guard or carrying heavy pots and pans as a cook in service, a July 2019 examiner failed to address the underlined portion (the extent to which the Veteran's service in National Guard was discussed was that the exams taken after separation from active duty were normal). 

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Refer the Veteran's file back to the July 2019 examiner (or another examiner, if he/she is no longer available), to obtain an addendum opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's back disability. The examiner should opine on the following, with a full supporting rationale:

Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater) that the Veteran has a back disability related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including monthly drills, duties, and training in the National Guard or carrying heavy pots and pans as a cook in service. in the July 2019 medical nexus opinion, the examiner failed to address the underlined portion. 

 

 

MICHELLE L. KANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.