Citation Nr: 1007386 Decision Date: 03/01/10 Archive Date: 03/11/10 DOCKET NO. 06-04 055 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Oakland, California THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), currently evaluated as 30 percent disabling. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Siobhan Brogdon, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from April 1969 to November 1970. This appeal comes before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) from a June 2005 rating decision of the VA Regional Office (RO) in Oakland, California that recharacterized service-connected anxiety disorder to PTSD, and increased the 10 percent rating to 30 percent disabling. Following review of the record, 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 The Veteran asserts that the symptoms associated with service-connected PTSD are more severely disabling than reflected by the currently assigned disability evaluation and warrant a higher rating. In the Informal Hearing Presentation dated in February 2010, the appellant's representative requests that the case be remanded for further development if the Board finds that the evidence of record is not adequate. The Board is of the opinion that further development is warranted. Review of the record discloses that there is no clinical information of record which discloses the status of the service-connected PTSD since a letter from the Veteran's private licensed social worker, R. K. Frye, in October 2007. When afforded VA examination in March 2007, the appellant indicated that he received individual psychotherapy from R. Frye monthly, and participated in a weekly vet's group. The Veteran should therefore be requested to provide authorization for VA to request more updated clinical data in this regard. VA outpatient clinical records dating from August 2006 note that the Veteran was a new patient. In August 2006, it was recorded that he had been seen for a positive PTSD screen or was currently being followed for PTSD in Mental Health. The most recent VA outpatient records date through April 20, 2007. As there is potential notice of the existence of pertinent VA records, they must be retrieved and associated with the other evidence on file. Therefore, VA mental health records dating from 2006 should be requested and associated with the claims folder. Additionally, the Board observes that the Veteran has not been provided notice of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA) with respect to the issue of entitlement to an increased rating for the psychiatric disorder. (We do not believe that a VCAA letter addressing the issue of service connection for PTSD is adequate when the grant only results in an amendment of an already service-connected condition.) Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Issue a letter that complies with VCAA. 2. The Veteran should be contacted by letter and requested to complete and return the appropriate release form so that VA can obtain clinical records from R. Frye and his treating vet center. 3. VA mental health clinical records dating from 2006 should be retrieved and associated with the claims folder. 4. The Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine the severity of service-connected PTSD. The claims folder must be made available to the examiner prior to evaluation. All necessary tests and studies should be conducted in order to identify the degree of social and occupational impairment attributable to PTSD. The examiner should provide a numerical score on the GAF scale. 4. The Veteran must be given adequate notice of the examination, to include advising him of the consequences of failure to report under 38 C.F.R. § 3.655 (2009). 5. After taking any further development deemed appropriate, the RO should re-adjudicate the issue on appeal. If the benefit is not granted, the appellant and his representative should be provided a supplemental statement of the case and afforded an opportunity to respond before the case is returned to the Board for appellate disposition. 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. 2002). _________________________________________________ H. N. SCHWARTZ 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).