Opinion ID: 766558
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Subsuming and the Doctrine of Delayed-Subsuming

Text: 14 Under the veterans benefits system, a veteran must bring his or her claim for disability benefits to the RO. If the RO denies the claim, the veteran must timely appeal the denial to the Board or else the RO decision becomes final. See 38 U.S.C. § 7105(c) (1994); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1103 (1999). As we have stated previously, [b]asic principles of finality and res judicata apply to such agency decisions. Routen v. West, 142 F.3d 1434, 1437 (Fed. Cir. 1998). A final and binding agency decision can only be reviewed in certain instances. For example, a veteran can collaterally attack a final RO decision based on CUE. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 5109A, 7111 (1999); see also Bustos v. West, 179 F.3d 1378, 1380-81 (Fed. Cir. June 16, 1999). A veteran can also collaterally attack a final RO decision based on new and material evidence. See 38 U.S.C. § 5108 (1994); see also Routen, 142 F.3d at 1438 (A second ground, again statutory, under which a previously closed case may be reopened is to present 'new and material evidence' sufficient to reopen the claim.). We have also held that an intervening change in the law may entitle a veteran to consideration of a previously closed RO decision. See Spencer v. Brown, 17 F.3d 368, 372 (Fed. Cir. 1994). In addition, we have recently held that a veteran, under appropriate circumstances, can attack the finality of an unappealed RO decision by showing that such a decision was based on a breach of the statutory duty to assist. See Hayre v. West, N188 F.3d 1327, 1333-34(Fed. Cir. Aug. 16, 1999) (holding that when there is a breach of the duty to assist in which the VA failed to obtain pertinent service medical records specifically requested by the claimant and failed to provide the claimant with notice explaining the deficiency, the claim does not become final for purposes of appeal.). 15 When the veteran does, however, timely appeal the RO's denial to the Board and the Board affirms the initial decision, the veteran can collaterally attack only the Board decision, and not the initial RO decision. This is because the Board decision subsumes the RO decision under 38 C.F.R. § 20.1104, which provides that [w]hen a determination by the [RO] is affirmed by the [Board] such a determination is subsumed by the final appellate decision. (emphasis added). This regulation provides that RO decisions are subsumed by Board decisions when they are directly appealed to the Board. On direct appeal, the Board is exercising its appellate powers and affirming the RO decision, thereby subsuming the RO decision. This interpretation of 38 C.F.R. § 20.1104 as only allowing for subsuming on direct appeal was also established in the jurisprudence of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. See Elkins v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 391, 396 (1995) (holding that CUE claim could not be raised as to RO decision because service connection for psychiatric disability was subject of subsuming Board decision on direct appeal); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 52 (1994) (holding that RO denial of service connection could not be collaterally attacked because it was subsumed by Board decision on direct appeal). 16 In sum, when a veteran appeals an RO decision and such a decision is affirmed by the Board, the Board decision subsumes the RO decision. In such circumstances, the veteran can only collaterally attack the Board decision and not the RO decision, which has been subsumed. In addition, the veteran must file his or her collateral attack on the Board decision with the Board itself rather than the RO because a lower tribunal cannot review the decision of higher tribunal. See Smith, 35 F.3d at 1526. 17 Mr. Jones is therefore correct that 38 C.F.R. § 20.1104 does not provide for subsuming of final, unappealed RO decisions by subsequent Board decisions that consider the RO decision during collateral attacks. Thus, in this case, the 1993 Board Decision cannot have subsumed the 1962 RO Decision based on 38 C.F.R. § 20.1104. Our court, however, has recently introduced the concept of delayed-subsuming, which is not based on 38 C.F.R. § 20.1104. See Dittrich, 163 F.3d 1349, 1353; Donovan, 158 F.3d at 1381-82. Under the doctrine of delayed-subsuming, a Board decision that considers a collateral attack on a final, unappealed RO decision can also subsume that RO decision under certain circumstances, thereby preventing the veteran from collaterally attacking the final, unappealed RO decision by filing a claim with an RO. In other words, the doctrine of delayed-subsuming allows the Board to subsume final RO decisions that are not directly appealed to the Board, but rather are the subject of collateral attacks. In such instances, the veteran is required to collaterally attack the Board decision rather than the RO decision and to file this collateral attack with the Board rather than the RO.