Citation Nr: 22040199 Decision Date: 07/13/22 Archive Date: 07/13/22 DOCKET NO. 19-35 950A DATE: July 13, 2022 REMANDED Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 4, 2014, for the assignment of a 30 percent rating for encephalitis is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1968 to July 1971. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2016 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2021, the Veteran was afforded a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. This matter was previously remanded for additional development in a January 2022 Board decision. Unfortunately, the Board finds that another remand is required to comply with the January 2022 remand directive. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998) (holding that a remand by the Board confers upon the Veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with its remand instructions, and imposes upon VA a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with the terms of the remand). Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 4, 2014, for the assignment of a 30 percent rating for encephalitis is remanded. During the Veteran's August 2021 Board hearing, he reported that he was treated at the White River Junction VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Vermont during the time period of 1982 through 1983. In a January 2022 decision, the Board remanded the claim to obtain and associate with the claims file any VA treatment records from the White River Junction VAMC that exist for the time period from 1982 through 1983, (specifically focusing on the July 1982 through July 1983 time frame). The Board's directive stated that hard copy (paper) treatment records must be specifically requested. In a January 2022 VA 10-7131, Exchange of Beneficiary Information and Request for Administrative and Adjudicative Action, the Regional Office requested that the White River Junction furnish medical records for the Veteran for the period of medical care from January 1992 to December 1993, focusing on the time frame of July 1982 to July 1983. The RO did not specifically request hard copy (paper) treatment records as the Board's remand directive required. Further, a typographical error in the RO's request leads to confusion, as medical records from January 1992 to December 1993 were requested instead of records from January 1982 to December 1983. The response received from the White River Junction VAMC simply noted that "all medical records have been uploaded." See April 2022 VA 10-7131. The response received from the White River Junction VAMC does not indicate that a specific search for medical records for the time frame in questionJanuary 1982 to December 1983 was conducted and that no records were found. More importantly, the VAMC's response does not acknowledge or confirm a specific request from the RO for a paper medical records search for the January 1982 to December 1983 time frame. Given the RO's failure to specifically request hard copy (paper) medical records and the typographical error, taken together with the White River Junction VAMC's vague response which noted only that all records had been uploaded; in addition to VA's heightened duty to assist in obtaining VA treatment records, the Board finds that an additional remand is required to comply with the Board's January 2022 remand directive. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Obtain and associate with the claims file any VA treatment records that exist for the time period from 1982 through 1983, (specifically focusing on the July 1982 through July 1983 time frame) from the White River Junction VAMC. Hard copy (paper) treatment records must be specifically requested until a response is received from the VA facility; should records be located they should be scanned into the electronic claims file. Jennifer White Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Alison M. Mecone, Associate 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.