Citation Nr: A24029724 Decision Date: 06/06/24 Archive Date: 06/06/24 DOCKET NO. 230919-377140 DATE: June 6, 2024 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a burning hands and palms disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the Air Force from March 1963 to June 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2023 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. In September 2023, the Veteran timely appealed the July 2023 rating decision with submission of VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, and elected to submit evidence for review. See VA Form 10182, received September 19, 2023. Thus, the Board may consider the evidence of record at the time of the July 2023 rating decision, as well as evidence submitted with the Board appeal and 90 days forward. 38 C.F.R. § 20.303. Notably, remand is only warranted to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors (including when the AOJ failed to make reasonable efforts to obtain VA treatment records or relevant federal or private treatment records, failed to obtain a VA examination, or provided an inadequate VA examination or opinion). 38C.F.R. §20.802 (a). Now the matter before the Board. The Veteran seeks service connection for a disability manifested by burning hands and palms, asserting prolonged exposure to the hot sun during military drills in 1963 caused the condition. See November 2022 Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits, VA Form 21-526EZ. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran's service treatment records are silent for a hand or palm disability. However, the Veteran is competent to describe the symptoms and the onset, as they are perceived directly through the senses. As the Veteran has not yet been afforded a VA examination for his disability associated with burning hands and palms, under VA's duty to assist, a remand is warranted to determine the nature and etiology of the condition. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A; McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006) (recognizing that 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (c)(4) presents a low threshold for the requirement that evidence indicates a claimed disability may be associated military service for the purposes of a VA examination). Here, there is competent lay evidence of in-service sun exposure and recurrent symptoms since service, but there is insufficient competent medical evidence on file for the VA to make a decision on the claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. Accordingly, the Board finds that obtaining a VA examination and medical opinion to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed disability is necessary to make a fully informed decision. McLendon, supra. Accordingly, the matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to ascertain the nature and etiology of any disability manifested by burning of the hands and palms. The claims folder, including a copy of this remand, must be made available to the examiner prior to examination. The examiner should elicit and note in the report a detailed clinical history from the Veteran regarding his claimed hand and palm disability. All necessary tests and studies should be performed. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not (an approximate balance of evidence) that any diagnosed hand and palm disability had its onset in, was caused by, or is otherwise etiologically related to, an in-service injury, event, or disease. The examiner must specifically consider and address the Veteran's contention that the disability is due to prolonged sun exposure. A complete rationale must be offered for any opinion offered. MICHAEL LANE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Gipson, 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.