Court Opinion

ID: 9498334
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 17:14:50.104469+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:46.259727
License: Public Domain

MICHEL, Chief Judge,
concurring.
I agree that Voracek’s brief SSC asserting that his condition “worsened” does not meet the definition for “material” evidence set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a). See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a) (2001) (defining “material” evidence as “existing evidence that, by itself or when considered with previous evidence of record, relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the [original] claim”). Nevertheless, I decry the careless way in which the Department of Veterans Affairs (“Veterans Department”) processed Voracek’s SSC. First, Voracek stated in his SSC that he wished to “re-open” his claim. The word “reopen” is defined to mean “to open again” or “to start again: resume.” Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1632 (2d ed.1998). Applying either of these definitions to Vo-racek’s case logically leads to the conclusion that Voracek sought readjudication of his original claim. It is thus perplexing how the Veterans Department could interpret Voracek’s SSC to mean that Voracek actually wanted to open a new claim for an increased rating.
Second, Voracek stated that his condition “ha[d] worsened” without any indication of a time period for this change. Perhaps Voracek’s condition worsened during the period of time after he filed his original claim and before the RO issued its March 1993 Decision. Alternatively, perhaps Vo-racek’s condition worsened after the March 1993 Decision but within the one-year appeal period. The Veterans Department is obligated to read a veteran’s claim in the light most favorable to the veteran. Seemingly, in this case, it did not. The Veterans Department appeared to make no effort to ascertain the point in time when Voracek began to experience more severe PTSD. Nor did the Veterans Department give Voracek the benefit of the doubt by treating his statement, which was *1306indisputably filed within one year of the March 1993 Decision, as asserting nunc pro tunc evidence to support the original claim. Consequently, it is my impression that the Veterans Department slacked in its duty to favorably construe Voracek’s SSC.
Third, Voracek incorporated into his SSC by reference documents contained in his counseling file from the Portland Veterans Center. Apparently, neither the RO nor the Board ever reviewed them, which explains why these records were not part of the record before the Veterans Court. The Veterans Court therefore could not and did not consider these documents in deciding whether Voracek presented material evidence connected to his original claim. Indeed, the Veterans Court appeared to think that Voracek did not submit any supporting evidence, stating in its opinion that “Mr. Voracek’s statement that his PTSD had worsened, without any supporting evidence submitting within the one-year period, did not require VA to consider his original claim again.” Vora-cek, slip op. at 7 (emphasis added). Both the Veterans Department and the Veterans Court should have fully reviewed the contents of Voracek’s counseling records before reaching any conclusion as to the nature of Voracek’s SSC or the materiality of that document or supporting evidence. Just as Voracek’s November 1992 social and industrial survey included information about his condition starting with his return from Vietnam to the date of his original claim, his counseling records may well have revealed similar information relevant to his original claim.
Proceedings involving veterans benefits are not adversarial in nature. Instead, the Veterans Department is charged with the responsibility of assisting the veteran in establishing his claim; that responsibility includes helping the veteran to gather supporting evidence. Gonzales v. West, 218 F.3d 1378, 1381 (Fed.Cir.2000) (recognizing that the veterans’ benefit adjudication system is designed to help veterans); see also, 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2000) (statutory duty to assist a veteran in the development of his claim for benefits); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (2001) (“Upon receipt of a substantially complete application for benefits, [the Veterans Department] will make reasonable efforts to help a claimant obtain evidence necessary to substantiate the claim.”); White v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 519, 521 (1991) (acknowledging that the Veterans Department has “a duty to help the veteran obtain facts that might enable him to sustain his burden of proof or develop the facts of his claim, once [the veteran] has submitted a well-grounded claim”). Here, the Veterans Department surely failed that duty, which I think is appalling. The Veterans Department should take greater care in the future, keeping foremost in mind its duty at every stage to aid the veteran.
Although the Veterans Department did not collect or consider Voracek’s counseling records when those records clearly were part of Voracek’s SSC, I nonetheless conclude that error was harmless because the records were not shown to be “material.” Voracek began visiting the Portland Veterans Center for counseling only in May 1993, two months after the RO issued the March 1993 Decision. While it is possible that his counseling records reflect his condition prior to the date he filed his original claim or bear upon some fact related to his condition at that time, such information in all likelihood was contained in his November 1992 social and industrial survey and was considered by the RO in deciding his original claim. Indeed, as carefully recounted by the Board in its decision, Voracek shared in that survey a detailed history of his family situation as a child and his living arrangements, work history, and general mental state since his return from Vietnam. Any additional evi*1307dence in his counseling file thus is probably cumulative or redundant of the record before the RO when it decided his original claim.1 If so, it cannot be “material” under § 3.156(a) to Voracek’s original claim. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a) (2001) (“New and material evidence can be neither cumulative nor redundant of the evidence of record at the time of the last prior final denial of the claim sought to be reopened.”) Moreover, in this court, Voracek does not mention his counseling records at all, let alone point out any information contained therein that he thinks establishes new and material facts supporting his original claim. Consequently, Voracek’s counseling records, incorporated by reference in his SSC, have not been shown to meet the definition for materiality set forth in § 3.156(a). I, therefore, agree that Vora-cek is not entitled to reopen his original claim, despite the poor handling of his SSC by the Veterans Department.

. Notably, counsel did not include Voracek’s counseling records in the record on appeal to this court. Therefore, I cannot make a conclusive assessment of materiality.