Citation Nr: 0006575 Decision Date: 03/10/00 Archive Date: 03/17/00 DOCKET NO. 98-08 564 A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Washington, DC THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to payment of the cost of a custom-made recliner chair. 2. Entitlement to payment of a health membership fee in the amount of $150.00. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD H. Roberts, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from August 1977 to June 1979 and from June 1979 to January 1983. This appeal originated before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a December 1996 decision of the Foreign Medical Program Office in Denver, Colorado which apparently denied entitlement to payment of the cost of a custom-made recliner chair. This appeal arises from the Washington, D.C., Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). REMAND The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has held that VA has a duty to assist claimants in the development of facts pertinent to their claims and that VA must accomplish additional development of the evidence if the record currently before it is inadequate. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(a) (1999); Littke v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 90 (1990). The Board has examined the April 1998 statement of the case on the issue of entitlement to payment of the cost of a custom-made recliner chair. That statement references several documents which are not contained in the veteran's claims folder. The Board feels those documents (to include the original denial and the notice of disagreement) should be located and associated with the veteran's claims folder. The Board also feels that any evidence relevant to the issues on appeal currently located at the Foreign Medical Program Office in Denver, Colorado, should also be associated with the veteran's claims folder. The Board notes that the veteran requested payment of a health membership fee in the amount of $150.00, which was denied by means of a November 1998 letter. The veteran, in July 1998 and November 1998, has expressed disagreement to that denial. However, no statement of the case has been issued and no appeal has been perfected on the issue. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) has held that where a notice of disagreement has been filed with regard to an issue, and a statement of the case has not been issued, the appropriate Board action is to remand the issue to the RO for issuance of a statement of the case. Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238 (1999). Accordingly, this case is REMANDED for the following development: 1. The RO should locate copies of the veteran's December 1996 claim of entitlement to payment of the cost of a custom-made recliner chair, the December 1996 denial of that claim, the March 1997 request to reconsider that claim, the April 1997 medical staff review of that claim, the May 1997 denial of that claim, and the November 1997 notice of disagreement, as well as any other evidence relating to that claim, and associate those documents with the veteran's claims folder. 2. The RO should request any claims folder existing at the Foreign Medical Program Office in Denver, Colorado, and associate that claims folder with the veteran's claims folder. 3. The veteran should be issued a statement of the case on the issue of entitlement to payment of a health membership fee in the amount of $150.00. He should be informed of the actions necessary to perfect an appeal on that issue and provided the appropriate amount of time in which to do so. 4. Following completion of the foregoing, the RO should review the issues on appeal. If the decision remains adverse to the veteran, in whole or in part, he and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and afforded the applicable period of time within which to respond. 5. Thereafter, the RO should repair the veteran's claims folder and return it to the Board in no less than three volumes. The Board expresses its gratitude in advance to the RO for assisting in the requested development. The purpose of this REMAND is to locate evidence which is not in the claims folder and to ensure compliance with due process considerations. No inference should be drawn regarding the final disposition of this claim. The veteran is hereby informed that failure to cooperate with any requested development may have an adverse effect upon his claim. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters the Board has remanded to the regional office. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). M. W. GREENSTREET Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991 & Supp. 1999), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 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) (1999).