BVA9500538 
DOCKET NO.  93-03 425     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in San Juan,
Puerto Rico

THE ISSUES

Entitlement to special monthly compensation on account of the
loss of use of both lower extremities.

Entitlement to a certificate of eligibility for financial
assistance in the purchase of one automobile or other conveyance
and basic entitlement to necessary adaptive equipment.

Entitlement to a certificate of eligibility for assistance in
acquiring specially adapted housing or necessary special home
adaptations or for assistance in acquiring a residence already
adapted with necessary special features.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Melba N. Rivera Camacho,
Attorney

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

R. K. ErkenBrack, Counsel

REMAND

The veteran had active duty from March 1953 to May 1955.

Service connection is in effect for residuals of osteochondritis
juvenilis with bilateral total hip replacement, dorsolumbar
paravertebral myositis and lumbar fibromyositis.  Each hip
replacement is rated as 70 percent disabling.  The spinal
disability is rated as 20 percent disabling.  The veteran has
been found entitled to a total compensation rating based on
individual unemployability.

On the basis of the latest VA rating examination in August 1992,
it is not clear what remaining function is present in the lower
extremities.  Also, since the most recent Supplemental Statement
of the Case on the issues, dated in November 1992, additional
medical evidence relevant to the claims has been received.  In
addition, the veteran has not been provided the criteria for
establishing loss of use of the lower extremities.  Finally,
there is evidence which has not been translated from Spanish.

To ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (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 regional office (RO)
for the following development:

1.  The RO should ask the veteran for the
names and addresses of all physicians who
have recently treated him for disabilities
of the back or lower extremities.  The RO
should then take the necessary steps to
obtain these records.

2.  The RO should obtain copies of the
complete hospital records from VA Medical
Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the
veteran was treated from January 21 to
March 6, 1992, and all other VA inpatient
or outpatient clinical records dated since
the VA rating examination in August 1992.

3.  The RO should arrange for the
translation of the January 12, 1990
statement from Dr. Humberto Negron, the
statement from the then representative
received on May 29, 1990, and any other
documents submitted in connection with the
current claims which are in Spanish.

4.  A complete VA orthopedic examination
should then be afforded the veteran to
ascertain, with respect to service
connected disabilities of the hips and
spine, the remaining function in the lower
extremities.  The examiner is specifically
requested to document range of motion in
the hips and lower extremities, muscle
weakness or atrophy, sensory impairment,
loss of balance or propulsion and any other
factors due to service connected disability
which affect use of the lower extremities.
The examiner should then express an opinion
as to whether there is loss of use of both
lower extremities such that locomotion
without the aid of Canadian crutches,
braces, canes or a wheelchair is precluded.
All indicated tests should be conducted.
The claims folder should be made available
to the examiner for review before the
examination.

5.  After the development requested above
has been completed to the extent possible,
the RO should again review the record, to
include the evidence received since the
supplemental statement of the case in
November 1992.  If any benefit sought on
appeal, for which a notice of disagreement
has been filed, remains denied, the
appellant and his representative should be
furnished a supplemental statement of the
case and given the opportunity to respond
thereto.  If the special monthly
compensation issue remains in appeal
status, the supplemental statement of the
case should include the criteria for
establishing loss of use in the lower
extremities.

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.

          NANCY I. PHILLIPS
          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.
          (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

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).