Citation Nr: 21029503
Decision Date: 05/13/21	Archive Date: 05/13/21

DOCKET NO. 14-39 033
DATE: May 13, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for polyneuropathy, to include as due to herbicide exposure, and to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicide exposure, and to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from June 1968 to June 1971.  

These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2012 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a January 2018 videoconference hearing.  A transcript of this hearing is of record.

Most recently, the Board remanded the issues on appeal for additional development in January 2020.  As discussed below, there has not been substantial compliance with the January 2020 remand instructions, so the matters must be remanded.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998); D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97, 105 (2008).  

1. Entitlement to service connection for polyneuropathy, to include as due to herbicide exposure, and to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded.

2. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, to include as due to herbicide exposure, and to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II, is remanded.

In its January 2020 remand, the Board instructed the RO to obtain all outstanding treatment records for the Veteran's left upper extremity neuropathy and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy.  The RO sent the Veteran a letter asking him to provide a medical authorization release form for any relevant treatment records from any VA facility or private facility.  In response, the Veteran submitted a February 2020 VA Form 21-4142a indicating that he was currently receiving treatment at the VA facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the VA facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PA), and from a private physician, Dr. J.E.M.  Since the January 2020 Board remand, the record does not include any records from the VA facility in Pittsburgh, PA, or any indication that the AOJ attempted to retrieve those records.  Notably, the July 2020 supplemental statement of the case only lists, among the evidence received, VA treatment records from the Pittsburgh, PA for the period of January 29, 2018 to November 6, 2018, which was received in December 2018.  The Board finds that there has not been substantial compliance with the January 2020 remand instructions, so the matters must be remanded.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998); D'Aries v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 97, 105 (2008).

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The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain the Veteran's treatment records from the VA facility in Pittsburgh, PA from November 2018 to the present.

 

 

LESLEY A. REIN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Journet Shaw, 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.