Citation Nr: 1329561 Decision Date: 09/16/13 Archive Date: 09/20/13 DOCKET NO. 11-00 021 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for an innocently acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Texas Veterans Commission WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Turner, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1970 to December 1971. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on an appeal from a rating decision issued by the RO. The Board notes that the Veteran's original claim of service connection was for PTSD. However, the medical evidence shows that he has been diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder and substance- induced mood disorder. Therefore, the issue was restated, as reflected on the preceding page of this document. See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 9 (2009). The Veteran testified at a hearing held at the RO before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in August 2012. The appeal is being remanded to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required on his part. REMAND The Veteran claims that he has PTSD as the result of witnessing another soldier killed in a truck accident while on temporary duty in Germany in August or September of 1971 while attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The evidence shows that the Veteran has been diagnosed with mental disorders including major depressive disorder and substance induced mood disorder. He has also had positive screenings for PTSD. The RO did not try to corroborate the Veteran's claimed stressor because he did not supply the name of the soldier who was killed. However, the Veteran identified his unit at the time, as well as the time and location of the reported accident. This information could be sufficient to enable the Joint Services Records and Research Center (JSRRC) to conduct a search to determine whether the claimed event took place. Therefore, an attempt should be made to obtain corroboration of the Veteran's claimed stressor. Since the Veteran did not have a corroborated stressor, he was not afforded a VA psychiatric examination by the RO. However, as noted in the introduction, Clemons requires consideration of his currently demonstrated psychiatric disorders. The VA treatment records show that the Veteran has been diagnosed with a major depressive disorder and a substance- induced mood disorder. Thus, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to ascertain the nature and likely etiology of the claimed psychiatric disorder. At his hearing, the Veteran testified that while he was not seeing a psychiatrist, his general practitioner was prescribing his psychiatric medication. The record also reflects that the Veteran is receiving Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits. While the Veteran's testimony at the August 2012 hearing suggested that this was due to physical disability rather than a psychiatric disorder, this was not clearly established as being the case. Therefore, the Veteran's SSA disability records should be obtained. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO should take appropriate action to contact the Veteran in order have him identify all treatment that he received for his claimed psychiatric disorder since service. He should be provided releases for all identified private sources of treatment, including the physician identified at the time of the August 2012 hearing. Copies of the records from any identified treatment should be obtained and associated with the record. If any records cannot be obtained, the efforts made to obtain the records should be documented in the claims file and the Veteran should be notified of VA's inability to obtain the records. 2. The RO also should take all indicated action to contact the SSA and request a copy of the Veteran's disability records. If the records do not exist or cannot be obtained, the efforts made to obtain the records should be documented in the claims file and the Veteran should be notified of VA's inability to obtain the records. 3. The RO also should contact the JSRRC or any other appropriate source in order to attempt to verify the Veteran's claimed stressor of witnessing the death of another soldier in a truck accident in August or September 1971, in Germany, while attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment . 4. The RO then should have the Veteran scheduled for a VA psychiatric examination to determine the nature and likely etiology of the claimed psychiatric disorder. The claims folder should be made available to the examiner for review in connection with his evaluation. Any indicated testing also should be performed. If the VA examiner records a diagnosis of PTSD, the stressor supporting the diagnosis should be identified. If a diagnosis other than PTSD is recorded, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (at least 50 percent likely) that the psychiatric disability had its clinical onset during the Veteran's period of active service. A complete rationale should be provided in the report of examination. If the examiner is unable to provide the requested opinion without resort to undue speculation, he or she should explain why this is the case. 5. After completing all indicated development, the RO should readjudicate the claim remaining on appeal in light of all the evidence of record. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be furnish a fully responsive Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) and afforded a reasonable opportunity for response. Thereafter, if indicated, the case should be returned to the Board for the purpose of appellate disposition. The Veteran 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). _________________________________________________ STEPHEN L. WILKINS 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) (2013).