BVA9501412 
DOCKET NO.  92-13 875     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago,
Illinois

THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to an increased evaluation for low back strain
with sciatic symptoms, currently rated at 10 percent.

2.  Entitlement to a total rating based on individual
unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

E. J. McCafferty, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active service from June 1955 to September 1955
and from February 1960 to February 1963.

This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) arises from
a rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Regional Office (RO) in Chicago, Illinois.

In April 1993, the Board entered a decision allowing an increased
rating of 20 percent for low back strain with sciatic symptoms,
previously evaluated as 10 percent disabling.  This was the only
issue considered by the Board at that time.  The veteran appealed
this decision to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals
(Court).  The Court, in [citation redacted],
vacated the April 1993 Board decision
and remanded the case to the Board for further development.  The
Court's action was based on a motion by the appellee, the Office
of the General Counsel of the VA on behalf of the Secretary.  The
Board, in this decision, is undertaking the Court-mandated
development.

REMAND

The first basis for the motion for remand was that the Board had
failed to consider the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 4.40 in
evaluating the veteran's low back strain and had failed to
address the existence and extent of the veteran's pain.  The
second basis for the motion for remand was that the record showed
that the veteran had stated that he was unable to work because of
his low back disability.  This claim for a total rating based on
individual unemployability had not been addressed by the RO or
the Board.  The final reason for the motion for remand was that
in April 1992 the appellant had submitted a statement in which he
indicated that he was submitting additional VA treatment records
from the John Cochran VA Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri.
These records had not been associated with the claims folder at
the time of the Board's decision.

In order to correct these deficiencies, the Board was directed to
consider the veteran's pain in evaluating his low back
disability, to take up the issue of entitlement to a total rating
based on individual unemployability due to service connected
disabilities, and to obtain and consider the missing VA medical
records.  Thus, the case is REMANDED for the following actions:

1.  The veteran should be accorded
orthopedic and neurological examinations to
determine the nature and extent of his
service-connected low back disability.  The
examiners should include an assessment of
the nature and extent of the pain resulting
from the veteran's low back disability and
the extent of the functional impairment
resulting from such pain.  The examinations
should also include an assessment of the
nature and extent of the veteran's
pilonidal cyst scar, his only other
service-connected disability, to include
any functional limitation due to pain.  The
claims folder should be made available to
the examiners.

2.  The RO should consider the disabling
effects of the veteran's service connected
disabilities in light of the statutory and
regulatory criteria and make an
adjudicatory determination with regard to
the issue of entitlement to a total rating
based on individual unemployability due to
service-connected disabilities.  If the
determination of the rating board is
adverse to the veteran, and he disagrees,
then this issue should be developed for
appellate review.

3.  The RO should contact the veteran to
determine what VA medical center records he
planned to submit with his April 1992
statement.  The RO should furnish any
assistance necessary in assisting the
veteran in obtaining copies of these
records for inclusion in the claims folder.

When the above actions have been completed, the case should be
reviewed by the RO.  If the case remains in a denied status, it
should be processed in accordance with current appellate
procedure.  If the issue of entitlement to a total rating based
on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability
is denied, and the veteran files a notice of disagreement, then
that issue should also be developed for appellate review in
conjunction with the issue of entitlement to an increased rating
for low back strain.  The purposes of this REMAND are to obtain
clarifying data and to afford the veteran due process of law.

          J. U. JOHNSON
          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).