Citation Nr: 1007883 Decision Date: 03/03/10 Archive Date: 03/11/10 DOCKET NO. 07-32 316 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Los Angeles, California THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss. 2. Entitlement to a rating higher than 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. D. Jackson, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from May 1967 to March 1970. He also had additional service in the reserves from November 1977 to November 1980, including inactive duty training (INACDUTRA) and active duty for training (ACDUTRA). This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is from rating decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Los Angeles, California. In September 2009, as support for his claims, the Veteran testified at a hearing at the RO before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge of the Board - also commonly referred to as a Travel Board hearing. The Board is remanding the claims to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) for further development and consideration. REMAND The Veteran last had VA compensation examinations for his PTSD and hearing loss in October 2006, so nearly 31/2 years ago. And during his more recent September 2009 hearing, he alleged these disabilities are now significantly worse. He therefore needs to be reexamined to reassess the severity of these disabilities. See Olsen v. Principi, 3 Vet. App. 480, 482 (1992), citing Proscelle v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 629, 632 (1992). See also Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377, 381 (1994) (where the Court determined the Board should have ordered a contemporaneous examination of the Veteran because a 23-month old examination was too remote in time to adequately support the decision in an appeal for an increased rating); see, too, Allday v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 517, 526 (1995) (indicating that, where the record does not adequately reveal current state of the claimant's disability, fulfillment of the statutory duty to assist requires a contemporaneous medical examination, particularly if there is no additional medical evidence on file adequately addressing the level of impairment of the disability since the previous examination). See, as well, VAOPGCPREC 11-95 (April 7, 1995) and Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 121 (1991). Accordingly, these claims are REMANDED for the following additional development and consideration: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA compensation examination to reassess the severity and manifestations of his bilateral hearing loss and the resultant functional effects - including on his day-to-day activities and employment. See Martinak v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 447 (2007). To facilitate making this important determination, the claims file, including a complete copy of this remand, must be made available to the designated examiner for review of the pertinent medical and other history. 2. Also schedule the Veteran for a VA mental status examination to ascertain the current severity of his PTSD. All indicated tests and studies should be accomplished and the findings reported in detail. The examiner is asked to report on the presence or absence of the specific symptoms in the general rating formula for mental disorders. The examiner should also comment on the degree, if any, of industrial/occupational and social impairment attributable to the PTSD. As well, the examiner should assign a Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score and explain what the assigned score represents, also indicating what portion of the score is specifically attributable to the PTSD versus other mental or physical disorders. The examiner must review the claims file, including a complete copy of this remand, for the pertinent medical and other history and discuss the rationale of all opinions expressed. 3. Then readjudicate the claims for higher ratings for the PTSD and bilateral hearing loss in light of the additional evidence. If these claims are not granted to the Veteran's satisfaction, send him and his representative a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) and give them time to submit additional evidence and/or argument in response before returning the file to the Board for further appellate consideration. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument concerning the claims the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). These claims must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board 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. _________________________________________________ Keith W. Allen Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252, only a decision of the Board 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).