Citation Nr: 21028918 Decision Date: 05/12/21 Archive Date: 05/12/21 DOCKET NO. 16-53 764A DATE: May 12, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded. Entitlement to burial benefits is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from November 1977 to November 1981. He died in May 2013. The appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In January 2020, the Veteran testified at a video-conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the claims file. In February 2020, the Board denied the issues on appeal. The appellant appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a December 2020 Order granting a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the Court vacated the Board's February 2020 decision and remanded the claim to the Board for additional development and readjudication. 1. Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded. The December 2020 Court Order remanded the claims for development consistent with the terms of the JMR. Specifically, the JMR deemed the Board did not fulfill its duty to assist when it failed to obtain clinical records from the Veteran's in-service hospitalizations. On remand, attempts to obtain these clinical records should be made, as set forth below. The JMR also deemed that the Board failed to provide adequate reasons or bases regarding relevant evidence of possible in-service human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) symptomatology and as to why a medical opinion was not warranted. In this regard, during his active service the Veteran was treated for flu-like symptoms, flu syndrome, high temperatures, viral illnesses, and recurrent sore throat. See Clinical Records, dated August 15, 1978, December 11, 1978, February 14, 1979, October 26, 1979, January 10, 1980, August 19, 1980, February 20, 1981, and September 21, 1981. Given the evidence of in-service symptomatology which may be considered related to HIV, the Board finds that a remand is required in order to obtain a medical opinion, as set forth below. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(a); DeLaRosa v. Peake, 515 F.3d 1319 (Fed. Cir. 2008). 2. Entitlement to burial benefits is remanded. As the appellant's claim for burial benefits is intertwined with the cause of death claim, it must also be remanded at this time. See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991) (two issues are "inextricably intertwined" when they are so closely tied together that a final decision on one issue cannot be rendered until a decision on the other issue has been rendered); Ephraim v. Brown, 82 F.3d 399 (Fed. Cir. 1996) (claims are inextricably intertwined when they have common parameters, such as when the outcome of one may affect the outcome of the other. And to avoid piecemeal adjudication of these types of claims, they should be considered together). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Make arrangements to obtain the Veteran's complete service treatment records, to include all records (i.e., clinical records, etc.) associated with his in-service September 1978 hospitalization at Castle Air Force Base and December 1978 hospitalization at David Grant United States Air Force Medical Center following the procedures set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. All records and responses received should be associated with the file. 2. Thereafter, arrange to obtain a medical opinion from an appropriate examiner. The contents of the claims file, to include a copy of this REMAND, must be made available to the designated examiner, and the report must reflect that such a review was undertaken. Following a review of the claims file, the examiner is asked to opine whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's HIV had its clinical onset during active service or is related to any incident of service, to include his in-service dental surgeries and hospitalizations. * In reaching this opinion, the examiner should consider and address the Veteran's in-service complaints of flu-like symptoms, flu syndrome, cold symptoms, viral illnesses, recurrent sore throat, and high temperatures, and discuss whether these symptoms could be the initial onset of his HIV. A complete rationale for all opinions expressed must be provided. Thomas H. O'Shay Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Stedman, Michael 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.