Citation Nr: 21032379 Decision Date: 05/26/21 Archive Date: 05/26/21 DOCKET NO. 15-41 543 DATE: May 26, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a right leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, is remanded. Service connection for a left leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, is remanded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran cancelled a scheduled VA examination for a right leg disability, has offered no good cause for canceling the examination, and has not requested to reschedule the examination. 2. The Veteran cancelled a scheduled VA examination for a left leg disability, has offered no good cause for canceling the examination, and has not requested to reschedule the examination. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The claim for entitlement to service connection for a right leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, is denied as a matter of law. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.303, 3.655. 2. The claim for entitlement to service connection for a left leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, is denied as a matter of law. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102, 3.303, 3.655. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1980 to April 1981. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Roanoke, Virginia. These claims were previously before the Board in January 2019, at which time the Board reopened and remanded the claims for further development. They returned to the Board in June 2020, at which time they were again remanded for further development and adjudicative action. In January 2021, the Veteran contacted VA via telephone and asked to withdraw his appeal. Later that month, he called and canceled the VA examinations that had been scheduled in response to the Board's June 2020 remand directives. In February 2021, the RO sent a letter to the Veteran requesting clarification as to which claim he wanted to withdraw, or if he was withdrawing all of the claims on appeal. The Veteran did not respond to the February 2021 letter. Appeal withdrawals must include the name of the veteran, the applicable VA file number, and a statement that the appeal is withdrawn. If the appeal involves multiple issues, the withdrawal must specify that the appeal is withdrawn in its entirety or list the issue(s) withdrawn from the appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.205 (b)(1). Therefore, the Board finds that the January 2021 telephone call was insufficient to constitute a withdrawal of the present appeal and the Board maintains jurisdiction over these claims at this time. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.205. Service Connection Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As discussed above, a January 2021 VA Form 27-0820 Report of General Information documents that the Veteran called to verbally withdraw his claims on appeal. Subsequently, a January 2021 Exam Scheduling Request Contention Cancellation form documents that the examinations were cancelled at the Veteran's request. The Board emphasizes that the duty to assist a claimant is not a one-way street, and in this case the Veteran has failed to cooperate in the development of his claims. Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 406 (1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.655. VA is unable to obtain the evidence that was the aim of the planned examinations. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.655, when a claimant fails to report for an examination scheduled in conjunction with an original compensation claim, the claim shall be rated based on the evidence of record. When the examination is scheduled in conjunction with any other original claim, a reopened claim for a benefit which was previously disallowed, or a claim for increase, the claim shall be denied. 38 C.F.R. § 3.655(b). (Continued on the next page) The claims currently on appeal, for a right and a left leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, are not original claims for compensation as contemplated by the operative VA regulations; rather, they are reopened claims for benefits which were previously disallowed in a final December 1981 rating decision. Accordingly, the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.655 apply to these reopened claims for service connection for right and a left leg disability, to include arthritis, arthralgia, and shin splints, and they must be denied as a matter of law. 38 C.F.R. § 3.655; see Sabonis v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 426, 430 (1994). JEREMY J. OLSEN Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Hammad Rasul, 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.