Opinion ID: 4554924
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Relevant Records” and the Duty to Assist

Text: As discussed, 38 U.S.C. § 5103A requires the VA to assist a claimant in obtaining “evidence necessary to substantiate the claimant’s claim,” including obtaining “relevant records” of the claimant’s military service, so long as there exists any “reasonable possibility that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim.” 38 U.S.C. §§ 5103A(a)(1)–(a)(2), 5103A(c)(1)(A) (emphasis added). There is no dispute that “relevant” records for purposes of reconsideration should be construed consistently with the meaning of “relevant records” under § 5103A. In interpreting § 5103A, this court has defined “relevant records” as “those records that relate to the injury for Case: 16-1929 Document: 71 Page: 27 Filed: 08/12/2020 10 KISOR v. WILKIE which the claimant is seeking benefits and have a reasonable possibility of helping to substantiate the veteran’s claim.” Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317, 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2010). When determining the scope of “relevant records” for a given claim, we look to the elements necessary to substantiate it. See id. at 1322. In particular, when a veteran seeks compensation for service-connected PTSD, we have held that the “records relevant to his claim are those relating to a medical diagnosis of PTSD, evidence corroborating claimed in-service stressors, or medical evidence establishing a link between any in-service stressor and a PTSD diagnosis.” Id. We have also made clear that the VA’s obligation to obtain relevant records does not depend on whether the records would likely be “dispositive” of the claim. McGee, 511 F.3d at 1358 (“The statute [§ 5103A] simply does not excuse the VA’s obligation to fully develop the facts of [the veteran’s] claim based on speculation as to the dispositive nature of relevant records.”). We have held that relevant records need not “independently prove” the veteran’s claim. Jones v. Wilkie, 918 F.3d 922, 926 (Fed. Cir. 2019). The scope of the VA’s duty to assist thus supports the conclusion that “relevant” records are those that help to establish a necessary element of a veteran’s claim, regardless of whether the evidence would be dispositive of the outcome. By this standard, Mr. Kisor’s combat records are relevant at least because they corroborate his in-service stressor, a necessary element of a PTSD claim that had not been established when the VA first decided his claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f); AZ v. Shinseki, 731 F.3d 1303, 1310 (Fed. Cir. 2013).