Citation Nr: 1006901 Decision Date: 02/24/10 Archive Date: 03/02/10 DOCKET NO. 02-10 770A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Winston- Salem, North Carolina THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder as secondary to service-connected bilateral knee disorders. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L. A. Rein, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active military service from June 1987 to April 1988. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In February 2006, the Board remanded this matter to the RO for additional development. As noted in the prior remand, in an unappealed October 1988 rating decision, the RO denied service connection for a psychiatric disorder on a direct basis. In October 1999, the Veteran submitted his current claim of secondary service connection for a psychiatric disorder. The claim has not been presented or addressed as a request to reopen the previously denied claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder on a direct basis. The Board's adjudication is thus also limited to the issue of secondary service connection. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND Unfortunately, the claims file reflects that an additional remand of the claim is warranted, even though such will further delay a final decision on the claim on appeal. The Board notes that in a March 2006 letter, the Veteran stated that he underwent a recent Social Security Administration (SSA) re-evaluation in January 2006 and he received a SSA decision granting and continuing his disability benefits for posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues. This letter was added to the file after the prior Board remand. Records pertaining to the award of such benefits by the SSA have not been associated with the record certified for appellate review. Such records may be of significant probative value in determining whether service connection for the disability at issue may be granted. While SSA records are not controlling for VA determinations, they may be "pertinent" to VA claims. See Collier v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 412 (1991); Murincsak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 363 (1992). In addition, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) held in Lind v. Principi, 3 Vet. App. 493, 494 (1992), that the duty to assist requires the VA to attempt to obtain records from other Federal agencies, including the SSA, when the VA has notice of the existence of such records. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2). Thus, the RO must request complete copies of the SSA records utilized in awarding the Veteran disability benefits. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The AMC/RO should contact the Social Security Administration and request copies of all disability determinations for the Veteran and all underlying medical records associated with those determinations. All records obtained should be associated with the claims file. If records are not found or are not available, the claims file should contain documentation of the efforts made. 2. Thereafter, the AMC/RO should readjudicate the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder as secondary to service-connected bilateral knee disorders. If the benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be provided with a SSOC. An appropriate period of time should be allowed for response before the claims file is returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2009). _________________________________________________ MICHAEL D. LYON Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand 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) (2009).