Citation Nr: 1324300 Decision Date: 07/31/13 Archive Date: 08/07/13 DOCKET NO. 09-44 308 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Roanoke, Virginia THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Prem, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1970 to March 1972; June 1976 to July 1984; December 1990 to May 1991; and July 1991 to January 1992. He served in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations from January to May 1991, which included Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2008 rating decision by the Roanoke, Virginia, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that denied entitlement to service connection for PTSD. The Veteran presented testimony before the undersigned at a hearing at the Board in June 2013. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the Veteran's claims folder. 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 testified that during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, his unit was escorting civilians to the King Khalid Medical City in Saudi Arabia, when his vehicle was run off the road. He added that he was now uncomfortable being in big vehicles; and that sometimes he got anxious and froze up when he drove. VA treatment records show that in 2001, he had a positive PTSD screen and reported being attacked, seeing someone badly injured or killed, and being threatened by a weapon. No specifics were provided. The RO scheduled the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination. An August 2012 supplemental statement of the case indicates that the Veteran cancelled the examination, and then failed to respond to a notification of a rescheduled examination. At the Veteran's June 2013 Board hearing, he testified that he never received notification regarding the scheduling of the examination(s). The notification letters are not in the claims file, so it is not possible to determine to cause of the Veteran's failure to receive the notification letters. In any case, the Veteran is clearly willing to undergo the requisite examination; and the Board finds that a remand is warranted so the Veteran can be rescheduled for one. The Veteran also testified that he had received relevant VA treatment as recently as April 2013, but records of VA treatment have not been obtained for the period since 2012 Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all records of the Veteran's VA mental health treatment since August 2012 2. Determine whether the service department or other entity can provide credible supporting evidence of the accident reported by the Veteran at his June 2013 hearing. If further information is required of the Veteran, ask him to provide the specific information needed. 3. The Veteran should be afforded a VA psychiatric examination to determining whether any psychiatric disability present since 2007, is related to service. The claims file must be made available to the examiner for review in connection with the examination. The examiner should opine: (a) whether the Veteran meets the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD, and if so, what stressors support the diagnosis; (b) whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran has any other psychiatric disability that began during, or is the result of a disease or injury (including a stressor) in, service; (c) whether any disability previously diagnosed, but not shown on current examination has gone into remission, or whether the previous diagnosis was, as likely as not, made in error. (Previous finding have included positive screens for major depressive disorder, substance abuse disorders, and PTSD); The examiner should provide reasons for these opinions. The outpatient treatment records reflect a diagnosis of PTSD (June 2007). If a diagnosis of PTSD is not supported by the record, the examiner should specify the criteria that were not met, and address the outpatient treatment report findings. 3. If the claim remains denied, the agency of original jurisdiction should issue a supplemental statement of the case, and return the record to the Board, if otherwise in order. 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. 2012). _________________________________________________ Mark D. Hindin 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).