Lang v. Wilkie

Summary

Lang v. Wilkie addresses the constructive receipt of VA-generated medical records for purposes of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b) and the finality of VA disability rating decisions. The Federal Circuit held that the Veterans Court erred in requiring actual knowledge by VA adjudicators to establish constructive receipt of post-decision VAMC records; instead, under the Bell doctrine, records are constructively received if they were created by the VA and can reasonably be expected to be connected to the veteran’s claim. Because the veteran’s post-decision mental health treatment records were constructively received within the one-year appeal period, the 1996 rating decision was not final, and a clear and unmistakable error (CUE) analysis was premature. The decision vacates the Veterans Court ruling and remands for the Board to determine whether the records constitute new and material evidence.

Holdings

1. The Veterans Court properly exercised jurisdiction over Lang's argument because it was not a new CUE claim but a procedural argument that the decision was not final, which is a prerequisite for CUE review.
2. The Veterans Court's 'triggering principle' in Turner v. Shulkin, requiring actual knowledge by VA adjudicators, is an erroneous statement of law. Constructive receipt of VA-generated medical records post-decision is governed by the same framework as pre-decision records: records are constructively received if they (1) were generated by the VA or were submitted to the VA and (2) can reasonably be expected to be connected to the veteran's claim. No actual knowledge is required.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Veterans Court had jurisdiction to consider Lang's argument that the 1996 rating decision was not final, given that the argument was raised for the first time on appeal.
2. Whether the Veterans Court erred in holding that VA-generated medical records were not constructively received under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b) because the VA adjudicator lacked actual knowledge of the records.

Disposition

vacated_and_remanded