BVA9501444 DOCKET NO. 93-09 639 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for arthritis of the right hip and leg. 2. Entitlement to an increased rating for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, left hip, and right shoulder, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. 3. Entitlement to a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. Anderson, Counsel REMAND The appellant had active duty from August 1956 to June 1986. At a personal hearing conducted as a Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) Travel Board hearing at the St. Louis, Missouri, regional office in April 1993, the appellant submitted additional evidence into the record, formally denying waiver of initial consideration of the evidence by the Chicago, Illinois, Regional Office (RO). This included evidence that the appellant was awarded disability benefits by the Social Security Administration, beginning in January 1989, but the evidence relied upon by that agency is not of record. It also appears that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made some sort of determination as to the appellant's feasibility for vocational training, but an August 1988 memorandum from a vocational rehabilitation panel is equivocal in its content. The vocational rehabilitation folder has not been associated with the claims file. The appellant has reported that he has not attempted to obtain employment since his retirement from service, claiming that he was advised to "stay retired" by VA vocational rehabilitation specialists. Such advice is not reflected in the evidence currently associated with the claims file. The appellant testified that he continues to be evaluated at Scott Air Force Base for soft tissue shoulder injury. In pertinent part, the appellant is claiming service connection for arthritis of the right hip and leg. Since X-ray examination has not clinically documented the presence of arthritis of the right hip and leg, the Board observes that the veteran has not been apprised of the ramifications of not presenting a well- grounded claim for service connection for arthritis of these joints. To ensure that VA has met its duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent to the claim and to ensure full compliance with due process requirements, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following development: 1. The RO should obtain the names and addresses of all medical care providers who treated the appellant for arthritis since April 1993. After securing the necessary release, the RO should obtain all records which have not already been obtained. Once obtained, they must be associated with the claims file. 2. The RO should obtain the appellant's vocational rehabilitation folder and associate it with the claims folder. 3. The appellant should be afforded a VA social and industrial survey to assess his employment history and day-to-day functioning. A written copy of the report should be inserted into the claims folder. 4. The RO should obtain from the Social Security Administration the records pertinent to the appellant's claim for Social Security disability benefits as well as the medical records relied upon concerning that claim and any continuation of benefits. Any such records obtained should be associated it with the claims folder. 5. After the development requested above has been completed to the extent possible, the RO should again review the record. If any benefit sought on appeal, for which a notice of disagreement has been filed, remains denied, the appellant and representative should be furnished a SSOC which contains an explanation of the necessity of presenting a well-grounded claim for arthritis of the right hip and leg. They should be given the applicable opportunity to respond thereto. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board, if in order. The Board intimates no opinion as to the ultimate outcome of this case. The appellant need take no action unless otherwise notified. CHARLES E. HOGEBOOM 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 action has been taken in accordance with the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 303, 108 Stat. 4645, ___ (1994), and 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).