Citation Nr: 1304932	
Decision Date: 02/11/13    Archive Date: 02/21/13

DOCKET NO.  11-21 617	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Lincoln, Nebraska


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	The American Legion


WITNESS AT HEARINGS ON APPEAL

The Veteran


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

A. C. Mackenzie, Senior Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from April 1943 to August 1946 and from April 1951 to November 1952.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2011 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He appeared for a video conference hearing on this matter in November 2012, and the transcript of that hearing is included in Virtual VA.  Previously, he appeared for an RO hearing in October 2011.

The Veteran also initiated an appeal of the RO's January 2012 denial of service connection for a "mental health condition not otherwise specified to include but not limited to depression and/or anxiety" and was furnished with a Statement of the Case on this issue in June 2012.  However, he did not respond to this issuance and has not perfected an appeal on this matter.

Please note this appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2012).  38 U.S.C.A. § 7107(a)(2) (West 2002).

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required.


REMAND

The Veteran underwent a VA examination in conjunction with his initial claim in January 2011.  At that time, his PTSD was described as mild to moderate.  There is evidence of worsening since that date, as a May 2011 VA treatment record contains a description of PTSD as "[m]oderate-to-severe."  Following his October 2011 RO hearing, the Veteran was in fact scheduled for a reexamination in December 2011, but the examination was cancelled due to a hospitalization.  There appear to have been no attempts to reschedule this examination.  The Board finds that the January 2011 is not sufficiently contemporaneous for rating purposes and has determined that a reexamination is "necessary" under 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(4) (2012).

The Board also notes that Virtual VA contains outpatient treatment records from the Omaha VA Medical Center (VAMC) dated through May 2012, but the Veteran reported current treatment at this facility during his November 2012 hearing.  Updated records should accordingly be obtained.  38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2) (2012); see also Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611, 613 (1992).

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

(Please note, this appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2012).  Expedited handling is requested.)

1.  The Omaha VAMC must be contacted, and all treatment records dated since May 2012 must be obtained and added to the claims file.  If no additional records are available, this fact must be documented in the claims file.

2.  The Veteran must then be afforded a VA mental health examination, with a psychiatrist or psychologist, to ascertain the symptoms and severity of his service-connected PTSD.  The examiner must review the entire claims file, including relevant records contained in Virtual VA.  The examination must address all subjective complaints and objective symptoms and must include a multi-axial diagnosis, with a Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score assigned.  The examiner must explain this score in terms of social and occupational impairment.  All opinions and conclusions expressed by the examiner must be supported by a complete rationale in a typewritten report.

3.  Then, the Veteran's appeal must be readjudicated.  If the determination remains less than fully favorable, the Veteran and his representative must be furnished with a Supplemental Statement of the Case and given an opportunity to respond before the case is returned to the Board.

The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on this matter.  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. 2012).



_________________________________________________
C. TRUEBA
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) (2012).