Lymore v. O'Rourke ( 2018 )


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  •        NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
    United States Court of Appeals
    for the Federal Circuit
    ______________________
    DWYANE C. LYMORE,
    Claimant-Appellant
    v.
    PETER O'ROURKE, ACTING SECRETARY OF
    VETERANS AFFAIRS,
    Respondent-Appellee
    ______________________
    2018-1230
    ______________________
    Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
    Veterans Claims in No. 15-4415, Judge Mary J. Schoelen.
    ______________________
    Decided: July 13, 2018
    ______________________
    DWYANE C. LYMORE, Orlando, FL, pro se.
    DANIEL S. HERZFELD, Commercial Litigation Branch,
    Civil Division, United States Department of Justice,
    Washington, DC, for respondent-appellee. Also repre-
    sented by MARTIN F. HOCKEY, JR., ROBERT EDWARD
    KIRSCHMAN, JR., CHAD A. READLER; CHRISTINA LYNN
    GREGG, Y. KEN LEE, Office of General Counsel, United
    States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC.
    ______________________
    2                                        LYMORE v. O’ROURKE
    Before WALLACH, LINN, and HUGHES, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM.
    Appellant Dwyane C. Lymore appeals a decision of
    the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans
    Court”), which (1) vacated and remanded the Board of
    Veterans’ Appeals’ (“Board”) denial of benefits for lack of
    service connection for his human immunodeficiency virus
    (“HIV”), and (2) affirmed the Board’s denial of benefits for
    lack of service connection for lymphoma. See Lymore v.
    Shulkin, No. 15-4415, 
    2017 WL 3686752
    , at *3–5 (Vet.
    App. Aug. 24, 2017). Because we lack subject matter
    jurisdiction, we dismiss.
    DISCUSSION
    I. Standard of Review and Legal Standard
    “The jurisdiction of this court to review decisions of
    the Veterans Court is limited by statute.” Gazelle v.
    Shulkin, 
    868 F.3d 1006
    , 1009 (Fed. Cir. 2017). We may
    “review and decide any challenge to the validity of any
    statute or regulation or any interpretation there-
    of . . . and . . . interpret constitutional and statutory
    provisions, to the extent presented and necessary to a
    decision.” 38 U.S.C. § 7292(c) (2012). Absent a legitimate
    constitutional issue, we lack subject matter jurisdiction
    over an appeal that raises “(A) a challenge to a factual
    determination, or (B) a challenge to a law or regulation as
    applied to the facts of a particular case.” 
    Id. § 7292(d)(2);
    see Wanless v. Shinseki, 
    618 F.3d 1333
    , 1336 (Fed. Cir.
    2010).
    II. We Lack Jurisdiction over Mr. Lymore’s Appeal
    Mr. Lymore’s appeal involves neither the interpreta-
    tion of a statute or regulation nor a constitutional issue;
    LYMORE v. O’ROURKE                                          3
    instead, Mr. Lymore challenges only factual determina-
    tions that we may not review. See Appellant’s Br. 1–2. 1
    Specifically, Mr. Lymore contends that a medical examin-
    er did not take all material facts into consideration, see 
    id. at 1
    (“Material facts are presented within veteran[’]s
    service records adding to the plausibility of the claimant,
    which the medical examiner could not have taken into
    consideration . . . .”), and requests we vacate, see 
    id. at 2
    (requesting we “[v]acate the [the Veterans Court’s] deci-
    sion, [or] if it is not possible[,] force the [Veterans] Court
    to consider all material facts[] and provide[ an] in[-]depth
    explanation [of] why [the] material facts are not plausi-
    ble”). However, we have no jurisdiction to review a chal-
    lenge to the sufficiency of evidence.               38 U.S.C.
    § 7292(d)(2); see Prinkey v. Shinseki, 
    735 F.3d 1375
    , 1383
    (Fed. Cir. 2013) (“[T]he sufficiency of a medical opinion is
    a matter beyond our jurisdictional reach, because the
    1    Mr. Lymore does not specify whether his argu-
    ments relate to his HIV claim or his lymphoma claim. See
    Appellant’s Br. 1–2. Either Mr. Lymore appeals the
    Veterans Court’s remand of his HIV claim, see Lymore,
    
    2017 WL 3686752
    , at *4 (remanding Mr. Lymore’s HIV
    claim “because the Board did not discuss [a 1992 medical
    record],” and stating that the Board should “discuss in the
    first instance” Mr. Lymore’s allegations that there were
    “discrepancies in his HIV diagnosis”), or its denial of his
    lymphoma claim, 
    id. at *5
    (affirming the Board’s decision
    denying service connection for lymphoma because Mr.
    Lymore “ha[d] not demonstrated error in the Board’s
    analysis” and “the Board’s reliance upon [a 2014 medical]
    examination [wa]s not clearly erroneous”). Regardless, in
    both instances, Mr. Lymore’s challenge to the Veterans
    Court’s factual findings or application of law to fact is
    beyond the jurisdiction of this court. Cook v. Principi, 
    353 F.3d 937
    , 940 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
    4                                        LYMORE v. O’ROURKE
    underlying question is one of fact.”); 
    Cook, 353 F.3d at 940
    .
    Mr. Lymore also argues that the U.S. Department of
    Veterans Affairs (“VA”) has not complied with its duty to
    assist him in developing his claims. See Appellant’s Br. 1
    (“This case has span[ned] over [nineteen] years, without a
    duty to assist in development of the claim[, such] that the
    material facts have been neglected. Information has been
    overlooked . . . .”); see 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(a)(1) (“The Secre-
    tary shall make reasonable efforts to assist a claimant in
    obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate the claim-
    ant’s claim for a benefit . . . .”). The Board determined
    that the VA made reasonable efforts to assist Mr. Lymore
    and that the record evidence was sufficient to assess Mr.
    Lymore’s claims. See Appellee’s App. 14. However,
    whether additional records were necessary to adjudicate a
    veteran’s claim is a factual inquiry that we lack jurisdic-
    tion to review. See DeLaRosa v. Peake, 
    515 F.3d 1319
    ,
    1322 (Fed. Cir. 2008).
    CONCLUSION
    We do not have jurisdiction to review this appeal. Ac-
    cordingly, Mr. Lymore’s appeal from the U.S. Court of
    Appeals for Veterans Claims is
    DISMISSED
    COSTS
    No costs.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 18-1230

Filed Date: 7/13/2018

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 7/13/2018