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| Home >> VA Claims Resources >> VA Claims >> VA General Counsel Precedent Opinions |
VA General Counsel Precedent Opinions |
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PREC 11-95 Duty to Assist -- Contemporaneous Examination Requirement
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PREC 11-95 Duty to Assist -- Contemporaneous Examination Requirement Citation: Vet. Aff. Op. Gen Couns. Prec. 11-95, VAOPGCPREC 11-95, 1995 QUESTION PRESENTED: Is the Board of Veterans’ Appeals required, pursuant to the statutory duty to assist claimants in developing their disability-benefit claims, to remand a case solely because of the passage of time since an otherwise adequate examination report was prepared?
HELD: The Board of Veterans’ Appeals is not required, pursuant to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ duty under 38 U.S.C. § 5107(a) to assist claimants in developing the facts pertinent to their claims, to remand an appealed disability-bene-fit claim solely because of the passage of time since an otherwise adequate examination report was prepared. Rath-er, an examination which was adequate for purposes of deter-mination of the claim by the agency of original jurisdiction will ordinarily be adequate for purposes of the Board’s determination, except to the extent that the claimant asserts that the disability in question has undergone an increase in severity since the time of the examination. |
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