Citation Nr: 22015901 Decision Date: 03/20/22 Archive Date: 03/20/22 DOCKET NO. 15-00 470A DATE: March 20, 2022 REMANDED An annual clothing allowance for the 2014 calendar year for a back brace is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1979 to February 1982. This appeal is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an October 2014 decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. In November 2021, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript is included in the claims file. The law provides for payment of an annual clothing allowance for each veteran who, because of a service-connected disability, wears or uses a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including a wheelchair) which VA determines tends to wear out or tear the clothing of the veteran, or uses medication which a physician has prescribed for a skin condition which is due to a service-connected disability and VA determines causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outer garments. 38 U.S.C. § 1162; 38 C.F.R. § 3.810. In 2014, the Veteran was service-connected for Reiter's syndrome, rated 60 percent under 38 C.F.R. § 4.71a, Diagnostic Code 5002, for active rheumatoid arthritis. He seeks a clothing allowance for the year 2014 for a back brace, which he contends was worn to treat back pain and symptoms resulting from his Reiter's syndrome. As reflected in its October 2014 decision and January 2015 statement of the case, the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) denied the Veteran's claim on the basis that he did not have a service-connected back disability. The AOJ noted that the Veteran's Reiter's syndrome had been found to affect his upper extremities, and that Reiter's syndrome was a systemic disease that could include pain, swelling, stiffness, and redness of the joints including the spine, but that there was no current evidence that the Veteran was service-connected for spine involvement. The current evidence is unclear as to whether the Veteran's service-connected Reiter's syndrome is a cause or aggravating factor of his back pain and symptomatology, and hence whether the Veteran's back brace was worn because of his Reiter's syndrome in 2014. A February 2009 VA treatment note reflects an assessment of neck and low back pain presumed secondary to Reiter's syndrome. However, with little explanation, a November 2010 VA examiner determined that the Veteran's cervical spine degenerative arthritis and resulting symptoms were not related to his Reiter's syndrome. Clarification of whether the Veteran's service-connected Reiter's syndrome is a cause of, or aggravating factor in, his back pain and symptomatology such that his use of a back brace in 2014 was at least in part due to such Reiter's syndrome is required for the Board to make an informed decision on the merits. The matter on appeal must therefore be remanded for the AOJ to obtain a medical opinion on the matter. The AOJ also found that the Veteran did not wear his back brace in 2014 because of a service-connected disability. No actual finding was made as to whether any such back brace actually tended to wear out or tear to the Veteran's clothing. On remand, the Veteran is at liberty to provide information or evidence as to how his claimed back brace, for the year 2014, caused wear or tear to his clothing. The matter is therefore REMANDED for the following action: Obtain an opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran's Reiter's syndrome was at least as likely as not a cause of, or aggravating factor in, his back pain and symptomatology such that his use of a back brace in 2014 was at least in part due to such Reiter's syndrome. MICHAEL A. HERMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Andrew Mack, 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.