Citation Nr: 1337446	
Decision Date: 11/18/13    Archive Date: 11/26/13

DOCKET NO.  08-34 048	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Waco, Texas


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Texas Veterans Commission


WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

K. Kordich, Senior Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1966 to August 1968.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2007 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Waco, Texas which denied an evaluation in excess of 50 percent for PTSD.

In March 2013, the Veteran testified before the undersigned at a Travel Board hearing held at the RO.  A transcript has been incorporated into the record. 

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

After reviewing the record, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran's claim so that he is afforded every possible consideration.  See 38 C.F.R. § 19.9 (2013).

The Veteran is seeking an evaluation in excess of 50 percent for his PTSD.  The appeal must be remanded for a contemporaneous examination.  VA's duty to assist includes providing a new medical examination when a veteran asserts or provides evidence that a disability has worsened and the available evidence is too old for an adequate evaluation of the current condition.  Weggenmann v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 281, 284 (1993); 38 C.F.R. § 3.326(a) (2013).  The most recent examination of the Veteran for the referenced disorder was in March 2011.  At his March 2013 Travel Board hearing, the Veteran asserted that his PTSD had worsened since his last examination, and that since that last examination his medication dosage for his PTSD had been increased by his psychiatrist.  Accordingly, remand is required to provide the Veteran with another examination. 

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

1.  The Veteran should be requested to identify all sources of treatment, VA and private, for the disability at issue. With any necessary authorizations from the Veteran, obtain and associate with the claims file all outstanding records of treatment identified by the Veteran.  In any event, obtain records from the VA North Texas Health Care System (including the Bonham VAMC for the period from December 2011 to the present).  If any requested records are not available, or the search for any such records otherwise yields negative results, that fact must clearly be documented in the claims file.  If the records are unavailable, notify the Veteran in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).

2.  The Veteran should be afforded a VA psychiatric examination to determine the severity of his PTSD.  All indicated tests and studies are to be performed.  Prior to the examination, the claims folder must be made available to the physician for review of the case.  A notation to the effect that this record review took place should be included in the report of the physician.

3.  Thereafter, the RO/AMC should readjudicate the issue on appeal.  If the determination remains unfavorable to the appellant, he and his representative should be provided with a supplemental statement of the case that addresses all relevant actions taken on the claim for benefits, to include a summary of the evidence and applicable law and regulations considered.  The appellant and his representative should be given an appropriate opportunity to respond.  The case should then be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if otherwise in order.

The appellant 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. 2013).



_________________________________________________
JOHN Z. JONES
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).