Citation Nr: 25003685 Decision Date: 03/18/25 Archive Date: 03/18/25 DOCKET NO. 15-22 210 DATE: March 18, 2025 REMANDED The claim of entitlement to service connection for drug abuse, including as secondary to service-connected unspecified mood disorder, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1980 to October 1983 and received an Air Force Overseas Service Ribbon for such service. His claim comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of an April 2013 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision. The Veteran testified in support of this claim during a videoconference hearing held before the undersigned Veteran's Law Judge in November 2018. The transcript of the hearing is of record. In April 2019 and January 2021, the Board remanded this claim to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for additional action. In April 2022, the Board denied this claim. The Veteran then appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a December 2023 Memorandum Decision, the Court set aside the Board's April 2022 decision and remanded the matter for further development and readjudication. In August 2024, the Board remanded this claim to the AOJ for additional action. Entitlement to service connection for drug abuse, including as secondary to unspecified mood disorder The Veteran initially claimed entitlement to service connection for drug abuse on a direct basis as related to in-service harassment and discrimination he endured due to his race and religion. In May 2024, he submitted a medical opinion supporting a different theory of entitlement. According to CC, PhD, the private psychologist who offered this opinion, the Veteran's struggles with drugs represent not only the in-service onset of his mental health condition during service but also a symptom thereof. The most recent Supplemental Statement of the Case referring to this claim is dated January 19, 2022. When the Board remanded claims to the AOJ for development in August 2024, the Veteran's appeal included claims of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include posttraumatic stress disorder, unspecified depression, and unspecified anxiety, entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, and entitlement to service connection for drug abuse. On remand, the AOJ completed the development of the three claims and then granted the Veteran service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include posttraumatic stress disorder, unspecified depression, and unspecified anxiety and a lumbar spine disability in a December 2024 Decision Review Officer decision, but it did not readjudicate the claim for service connection for drug abuse based on the evidence secured in response to the development. The AOJ must issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case if, pursuant to a Board Remand, it develops evidence. 38 C.F.R. § 19.31(c). As the AOJ did not do so in this case, the Board has no choice but to remand this claim to the AOJ. Compliance with the Board's remand instructions is neither optional nor discretionary. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Readjudicate the claim of entitlement to service connection for drug abuse, including as secondary to service-connected unspecified mood disorder, based on all evidence obtained since the January 19, 2022, Supplemental Statement of the Case. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board L. N. 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.