BVA9500947 DOCKET NO. 93-12 359 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois THE ISSUE Entitlement to a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Robert P. Regan, Counsel REMAND The appellant served on active duty from November 1974 to March 1975. The appellant in correspondence received in December 1990 indicated that he had been awarded benefits due to his disability from the Social Security Administration. However, he was unsure that these benefits were the result of an award of Social Security disability benefits or supplemental income. The evidence reflects that the appellant was most recently hospitalized at a VA facility in April 1992 at which time a transfer diagnoses included bipolar affective disorder. The hospital summary indicates that the appellant was transferred to the Madden Mental Health Center on April 27, 1992. Records subsequent to this date are not on file. The record also shows that the appellant was apparently hospitalized at a VA facility in October 1991 for detoxification. This hospital summary is not of record. The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is of the opinion that a contemporaneous and thorough VA examination would be of assistance in rendering a determination in this case. In accordance with the statutory duty to assist the appellant in the development of evidence pertinent to his claim, the case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. The RO should furnish the appellant the appropriate release of information forms in order to obtain copies of private and VA medical records regarding treatment from September 1990 up to the present. The RO should then obtain all those records which are not on file, including medical records from the Madden Mental Health Hospital and a hospital summary for the appellant's hospitalization at a VA facility in approximately October 1991. 2. The RO should obtain from the Social Security Administration a copy of any disability determination it has made for the veteran and copies of the medical records upon which any such determination was made. 3. A VA social and industrial survey should be conducted in order to clarify the veteran's medical, social, educational, and employment history. The social worker should elicit and set forth pertinent facts regarding the veteran's medical history, education, employment history, social adjustment, and current behavior and health. The social worker should offer an assessment of the veteran's current functioning and identify the conditions which limit his employment opportunities. Any potential employment opportunities should be identified. The claims folders must be made available to the social worker in conjunction with the survey as it con- tains important historical data. 4. Thereafter, the RO should schedule the veteran for general medical and psychiatric examinations. The general medical examination should be broad enough to cover all diseases, injuries, and residual conditions which are suggested by the veteran's complaints, symptoms or findings at the time of examination. All complaints or symptoms having a medical cause should be covered by a definite diagnosis. All necessary tests, as well as any other recommended examinations, should be conducted and all clinical manifestations attributable to each disability should be reported in detail. The psychiatric examiner should utilize the data obtained by the social worker and offer an opinion as to the likelihood that the severity of the veteran's psychiatric disability precludes his employability both currently and in the future. The examining physicians should be given access to the veteran's claims folder for a sufficient period of time prior to the examinations to allow for a complete review of the record. 5. After completion of the above, the originating agency should again adjudicate the veteran's claim for a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes on the basis of all the evidence of record. The rating decision should reflect consideration of the "average person" standard under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1502(a)(1) (West 1991) as well as the "unemployability" standard under 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.321, 3.340, 3.342, 4.17 (1993). 6. If the determination made is unfavorable to the veteran, a supplemental statement of the case that sets forth the additional evidence, the appropriate rating criteria for all disabilities of record, and a discussion of the "average person" and "unemployability" standards should be provided to the veteran and his representative. The veteran and his representative should be given an opportunity to respond to the supplemental statement of the case. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if otherwise in order. _____________________________ GARY L. GICK Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a deter- mination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This action has been taken in accordance with the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 303, 108 Stat. 4645, ___ (1994), and is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1993).