Citation Nr: 21029573
Decision Date: 05/13/21	Archive Date: 05/13/21

DOCKET NO. 16-27 513
DATE: May 13, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a compensable disability rating prior to August 7, 2018, for bilateral flatfoot and bilateral plantar fasciitis is remanded.

Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent from August 7, 2018 to February 22, 2020, for bilateral flatfoot and bilateral plantar fasciitis is remanded.

Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 50 percent since February 22, 2020, for bilateral flatfoot and bilateral plantar fasciitis is remanded.

Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for allergic rhinitis is remanded.

Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for hypertension is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1981 to August 1991. These matters are before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision which, in relevant part, continued 0 percent ratings for plantar fasciitis, allergic rhinitis, and hypertension. A September 2018 Board decision denied compensable ratings for these disabilities. 

The Veteran appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), resulting in a May 2019 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) by the parties. A June 2019 Court Order remanded the matters for compliance with the JMR instructions. An interim (July 2019) rating decision granted service connection for bilateral flatfoot (and recharacterized the disability as bilateral flatfoot and bilateral plantar fasciitis) rated 10 percent effective August 7, 2018. In December 2019, the case was remanded for additional development. Another interim (March 2020) rating decision increased the rating for bilateral flatfoot and plantar fasciitis from 10 to 50 percent, effective February 22, 2020.

The claim was most recently remanded by the Board in November 2020; however, there has not been substantial compliance with the remand directives and the claim must be remanded again. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998).

This matter was remanded to obtain outstanding VA and private treatment records. A January 2021 Supplemental Statement of the Case notes that VA medical treatment records dated through December 8, 2020, were of record. However, the most recent VA treatment records in the record are only dated from June 2020. Remand is needed to obtain and associate the updated VA treatment records with the claims folder. 

On remand, the Veteran should again be contacted and asked to submit updated authorizations for VA to secure records from all private treatment providers.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Take all appropriate action to obtain updated (to the present, all not already associated with the record) complete clinical records of VA evaluations and treatment the Veteran has received since June 2020.

2. Ask the Veteran to identify all private providers of evaluations or treatment he has received for his feet, allergic rhinitis, and hypertension (records of which are not already in the record) and to submit authorizations for VA to secure for the record complete outstanding clinical records from all such providers identified, specifically including from Kaiser Permanente since July 2011 and from Dr. T.B. Obtain those records.

3. Then, review the record and take any further development suggested by the newly received evidence. 

 

M. E. Larkin

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Komperda, 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.