BVA9505457 
DOCKET NO.  91-48 696     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Roanoke,
Virginia

THE ISSUE

1.  Entitlement to service connection for a skin disorder, to
include a fungal infection.

2.  Entitlement to an increased evaluation for residuals of
fractures of the right tibia and fibula, currently evaluated at
30 percent.

3.  Entitlement to an increased evaluation for lumbosacral and
right sacroiliac strain, currently evaluated at 20 percent.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Raymond F. Ferner, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA or
Board) on appeal from May 1990 and June 1993 rating decisions of
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in
Roanoke, Virginia (RO), which denied the benefits sought on
appeal.  The veteran, who had active service from January 1943 to
December 1945, appealed those decisions to the BVA, and the case
was initially received at the Board in November 1991.  A November
1992 BVA decision remanded this case to the RO for additional
development, and the case was returned to the Board in December
1994.

REMAND

The Board notes that at the time of the prior remand decision,
the issue of an increased evaluation for the veteran's back
disability was not on appeal.  That issue has subsequently been
included in the veteran's current appeal.  However, the veteran
has not been afforded a VA examination in connection with his
claim for an increased evaluation for his back disability, and in
view of the medical records which disclose treatment for the
veteran's back disability, the Board believes that such an
examination would be useful.

Also, those records show treatment for the veteran's right leg
disability subsequent to the VA examination, and as such, a
further examination of the veteran's right leg disability would
be beneficial.  Lastly, there would no doubt be more recently
dated medical records which have not been associated with the
claims file, since the claims file was returned to the Board in
December 1994.

Therefore, in order to give the veteran every consideration with
respect to the present appeal, it is the Board's opinion that
further development of the case is desirable.  The Board will
defer consideration of the veteran's claim for service connection
for a skin disorder pending the development requested by this
decision.  Accordingly, this case is REMANDED for the following
actions:

          1.  The RO should obtain and associate with
the claims file outpatient treatment records
pertaining to the veteran dated between
April 1993 and the present date from the VA
Medical Center in Salem, Virginia.

          2.  The veteran should be afforded an
orthopedic examination of his right leg and
back disabilities to ascertain the severity
and manifestations of each disability.  Any
and all indicated evaluations, studies, and
tests deemed necessary by the examiner
should be accomplished, but should include
complete range of motion studies.  The
examiner is requested to report complaints
and clinical findings in detail and
clinically correlate the complaints and
clinical findings.  Since it is important
"that each disability be viewed in relation
to its history[,]" 38 C.F.R. § 4.1 (1994),
copies of all pertinent medical records in
the veteran's claims file or, in the
alternative, the claims file, must be made
available to the examiner for review prior
to, and during, the examination.

When the development requested has been completed, the case
should again be reviewed by the RO on the basis of the additional
evidence.  If the benefits sought are not granted, the veteran
and his representative should be furnished a supplemental
statement of the case, and be afforded a reasonable opportunity
to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further
review.

The purpose of this REMAND is to obtain additional development,
and the Board does not intimate any opinion as to the merits of
the case, either favorable or unfavorable, at this time.  The
veteran is free, of course, to submit any additional evidence he
desires to have considered in connection with his current appeal.
No action is required of the veteran until he is notified.

          WARREN W. RICE, JR.
          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).