Citation Nr: 1318339 Decision Date: 06/05/13 Archive Date: 06/11/13 DOCKET NO. 08-19 542A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased initial rating for posttraumatic stress disorder, rated as noncompensably disabling prior to January 16, 2008 and 10 percent thereafter. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Florida Department of Veterans Affairs WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Kristy L. Zadora, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active duty service from June 2003 to December 2006, to include service in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2007 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD and assigned a noncompensable rating, effective December 4, 2006, the date VA received his claim. A review of the Virtual VA claims processing system does not reveal any documents pertinent to the claim on appeal. The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a January 2010 RO (Travel Board) hearing. A hearing transcript has been associated with the claims file. In June 2010, September 2011 and October 2012, the Board remanded this matter to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) in Washington, D.C, for additional development. In a June 2010 rating decision, the RO assigned a higher initial 10 percent rating effective January 16, 2008, for the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. As the initial ratings assigned to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD are not the maximum ratings available for this disability, this claim remains in appellate status. See AB v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 35 (1993). The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, D.C. VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required. REMAND The Board is cognizant of the fact that the Veteran's case has already been remanded in the past. Consequently, the Board wishes to assure the Veteran that it would not be remanding this claim again unless it was essential for a full and fair adjudication of his claim. In a November 2012 VA Form 21-4142, the Veteran wrote that he had received psychiatric treatment at the VA in September 2011, May 2012 and August 2012. The Board notes that the identified September 2011 treatment was actually a VA examination and that the examination report is contained in the claims file. Although the February 2012 supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) listed the Veteran's VA treatment records dated through January 2013 as evidence, such records are not contained in the Veteran's physical claims file or in his Virtual VA file. These documents should be associated with the Veteran's claims file on remand. In addition, a June 2012 VA administrative notation indicates that the Veteran's VA treatment records dated between June 2011 and June 2012 had been associated with his Virtual VA file. However, a review of his Virtual VA file as well as his physical claims file is negative for such records. On remand, these records should be associated with his claims file. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO/AMC should obtain the Veteran's updated VA treatment records, to include any notes from his May 2012 and August 2012 psychiatric treatment, should be associated with his claims file. In addition, his VA treatment records dated between June 2011 and June 2012 should be associated with the claims file. Any response received in association with this request should be memorialized in the Veteran's claims file. All efforts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims file. If these records are unavailable, this should be documented in the claims file and the Veteran should be so informed. 2. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the RO/AMC should issue a supplemental statement of the case, before the claims file is returned to the Board, if otherwise in order. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter 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. 2012). _________________________________________________ MARJORIE A. AUER 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).