BVA9500081 DOCKET NO. 93-01 313 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Houston, Texas THE ISSUE Entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Nadine W. Benjamin, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from February 1972 to October 1973. This appeal comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 1990 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Houston, Texas. REMAND The veteran seeks entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes. The record shows that in January 1987, the RO in Waco, Texas, denied entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes, and classified the veteran's disabilities as follows: adjustment disorder with mixed emotional features, rated as 10 percent disabling; scoliosis of the lumbar spine, seizure disorder with blackouts, head injury, fracture of the 8th thoracic vertebra, fractures of several left-sided ribs, fracture of the left clavicle, bilateral tenia pedis with friction blisters, and tracheostomy scar of the neck, each rated as noncompensable. All were nonservice- connected, and the combined rating was 10 percent. Drug and alcohol abuse were found to be the result of the veteran's own willful misconduct. The Board notes that there is subsequent clinical evidence referrable to, among other things, schizophrenia, cardiac complaints, and lumbar disc surgery. The Houston, Texas RO has not rated all of the veteran's disorders. Further, while the RO considered 38 C.F.R. § 3.321 (1993), it did not consider the question of entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating under the "average person" standard of 38 U.S.C.A. § 1502(a)(1) (West 1991). See Roberts v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 387 (1992) and Brown v. Derwinski 2 Vet.App. 444 (1992). Moreover, the October 1990 Statement of the Case includes since deleted portions of 38 C.F.R. § 4.17 (1993), and there is no reference to 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (1993). The Board also notes that the veteran has reported that he intended to apply to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for disability benefits in July 1989. Efforts to explore this further have not been made. The United States Court of Veterans Appeals (Court) has held that SSA records must be obtained and considered in adjudicating certain types of claims for benefits. Masors v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 181, 186-87, 189 (1992). The veteran's representative has argued that the case is not fully developed, as required by the Court, and has requested that the case be remanded for development prior to a decision. Under the circumstances of this case, the Board is of the opinion that additional development is required. This case is therefore REMANDED to the RO for the following action: 1. The veteran should be requested to provide the names, addresses and approximate dates of treatment or evaluation for all health care providers who have treated or evaluated him for any disability recently. When the requested information and any necessary authorization have been obtained, the RO should attempt to obtain and associate with the file copies of all indicated records which have not previously been obtained. 2. The RO should ascertain whether the veteran did, in fact, file a claim for benefits from the SSA, and, if so, whether it was granted. If it was, a copy of the decision, together with all supporting medical documents, should be secured and added to the claims folder. 3. The RO should schedule the veteran for an evaluation process suitable to document the present extent of all his disorders. Included should be special cardiac, psychiatric, orthopedic and seizure workup, with any indicated tests or studies. His complaints and symptomatology should be noted and evaluated, and clinical signs and manifestations should be recorded in detail. The examiners are requested to comment on how each disability found impacts on the veteran's employability. A complete rationale should be given for all opinions and conclusions expressed. The claims folder should be made available to each examiner for review. 4. The veteran should be scheduled for a social and industrial survey. The claims folder should be made available to the surveyor for review. 5. Thereafter, the RO should readjudicate the issue of entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes. All disorders found should be assigned a disability rating. Then, a combined rating should be calculated. The issue should also be considered under the "average person" standard referred to above, as well as all pertinent provisions of 38 C.F.R. § § 4.15, 4.16 and 4.17 (1993). If the requirements are not met, the RO should consider whether a permanent and total disability rating may be assigned under 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b) (2) (1993). If the benefit sought on appeal is not granted to the satisfaction of the veteran, a Supplemental Statement of the Case that sets forth the appropriate diagnostic codes and a discussion of their applicability to the veteran's disabilities, as well as a discussion of the "average person" and "unemployability" standards, should be issued, and the veteran and his representative should be provided an opportunity to respond. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further consideration, if otherwise in order. By this remand, the Board intimates no opinion as to any final outcome warranted. No action is required of the veteran until he is otherwise notified by the RO. J. J. SCHULE Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1993).