Citation Nr: 21042217
Decision Date: 07/12/21	Archive Date: 07/12/21

DOCKET NO. 17-09 423
DATE: July 12, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to a disability rating higher than 20 percent for a seizure disorder is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to February 1968. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of an August 2014 rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

In February 2021, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board.  A transcript of the hearing is included in the electronic claims file and has been reviewed.  

In April 2021, the Board remanded this matter for additional medical inquiry.  The case is again before the Board for appellate review.  

A remand is again warranted, this time for issuance of an addendum medical opinion.  

In response to the April 2021 remand, a June 2021 VA report and opinion were included in the claims file.  The examiner indicated that a major neurocognitive disorder and brain tumor were related to the seizure disorder.  The report did not specify the amount and nature of seizures since April 2014, however.  

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Return the case to the VA examiner who provided the June 2021 opinion regarding the seizure disorder, or to a suitable substitute, for issuance of an addendum medical opinion.  After reviewing the electronic claims folder, the examiner should answer the following questions:

(1) Is it at least as likely as not (probability of 50 percent or more) that, at any time since April 2014, the Veteran has experienced at least 1 major seizure in the previous 6 months or 2 in the previous year; or averaging at least 5 to 8 minor seizures weekly?

(2) Is it at least as likely as not that, at any time since April 2014, the Veteran has experienced seizures averaging at least 1 major seizure in 4 months over the previous year; or 9-10 minor seizures per week?

(3) Is it at least as likely as not that, at any time since April 2014, the Veteran has experienced seizures averaging at least 1 major seizure in 3 months over the previous year; or more than 10 minor seizures weekly?

(4) Is it at least as likely as not that, at any time since April 2014, the Veteran has experienced seizures averaging at least 1 major seizure per month over the last year?

The term "at least as likely as not" does not mean within the realm of medical possibility, but rather that the medical evidence both for and against a certain conclusion is so evenly divided that it is as medically sound to find in favor of such a conclusion as it is to find against it.

In rendering the requested opinion, the examiner should note that the Veteran is competent to attest to matters of which he has first-hand knowledge, including observable symptomatology.  

In remanding this case, the Board makes no credibility determination, expressed or implied, at this juncture.

(Continued on the next page)

 

Please explain in detail any opinion provided and the supporting rationale. 

If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he or she shall provide a complete explanation for why an opinion cannot be rendered.  In so doing, the examiner shall explain whether the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, or that he or she has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to that particular question(s).

 

 

G. A. WASIK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Christopher McEntee, 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.