The veteran sought increased ratings for service-connected sinusitis and hemorrhoids. The Board had remanded the matter for a current and comprehensive examination, but the veteran refused to report and had also left an earlier VA examination before completion. The Court held that the Board’s factual findings were not clearly erroneous, that VA had satisfied its duty to assist by ordering the examination, and that the veteran’s failure to report without good cause supported denial of the increased-rating claims under 38 C.F.R. § 3.655. The Court also stated that the Board’s decision satisfied reasons-or-bases requirements and the benefit-of-the-doubt rule. The case matters because it confirms that a claimant’s noncooperation can defeat an increased-rating claim when a current examination is necessary to establish entitlement.

In an increased-rating claim, if continued entitlement cannot be established without a current VA examination and the claimant, without good cause, fails to report, the claim may be denied under 38 C.F.R. § 3.655.

Claimants must attend scheduled VA examinations when current findings are necessary to decide an increased-rating claim, or risk denial absent good cause.

It provides direct authority for denying an increased-rating claim when the veteran refuses a necessary examination, and it also frames the duty to assist as conditional on the claimant’s cooperation.

Failing to develop current evidence after remand or overlooking a claimant’s refusal to report for a required examination.

A veteran seeks a higher evaluation for a service-connected condition, VA schedules a reexamination to assess current severity, and the veteran does not attend without explaining why; the claim may be denied under § 3.655.

Use to support denial or defense of a denial when the record shows the claimant failed to report for a needed examination without good cause, especially in an increased-rating context.

Gilbert v. Derwinski, Lovelace v. Derwinski, Connolly v. Derwinski, Wood v. Derwinski