Citation Nr: 1340419 Decision Date: 12/06/13 Archive Date: 12/20/13 DOCKET NO. 13-05 500 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Shana Z. Siesser, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran served on active duty from February 2001 to February 2004. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an August 2012 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Augusta, Maine. The Veteran appeared before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Board hearing via videoconference in April 2013. A transcript of that hearing is of record. In addition to the paper claims file, there are Virtual VA and Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) paperless files associated with the Veteran's case. A review of the documents in the Virtual VA paperless and VBMS claims files does not reveal any additional documents pertinent to the present appeal. 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 was provided a VA examination in May 2012 in connection with her claim. However, during her April 2013 hearing, she indicated that she was in the early stages of therapy at that time and shut down during the examination. As a result, she did not feel that the examiner had an accurate representation of the severity and symptoms of her PTSD. Therefore, the Veteran should be afforded another VA examination to ascertain the current severity and manifestations of her PTSD. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO/AMC should request that the appellant provide the names and addresses of any and all health care providers who have provided treatment for her PTSD and adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. After acquiring this information and obtaining any necessary authorization, the RO/AMC should obtain and associate these records with the claims file. The RO/AMC should also obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding, relevant VA medical records. 2. After completing the foregoing development, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to ascertain the current severity and manifestations of her PTSD and adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. Any and all studies, tests, and evaluations deemed necessary by the examiner should be performed. The examiner is requested to review all pertinent records associated with the claims file and to comment on the severity of the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. It should be noted that the Veteran is competent to attest to observable symptomatology. If there is a medical basis to support or doubt the history provided by the Veteran, the examiner should provide a fully reasoned explanation. The examiner should report all signs and symptoms necessary for rating the Veteran's disability under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The findings of the examiner should address the level of social and occupational impairment attributable to the Veteran's PTSD and adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood. In particular, he or she should indicate whether the Veteran has occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity; occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood; or, total occupational and social impairment. A clear rationale for all opinions would be helpful and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved would be of considerable assistance to the Board. Because it is important "that each disability be viewed in relation to its history [,]" 38 C.F.R. § 4.1 (2013), copies of all pertinent records in the appellant's claims file, or in the alternative, the claims file, must be made available to the examiner for review. 3. After completing these actions, the RO/AMC should conduct any other development as may be indicated by a response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraphs. 4. When the development requested has been completed, the case should be reviewed by the RO/AMC on the basis of additional evidence. If the benefits sought are not granted, the Veteran and her representative should be furnished a Supplemental Statement of the Case and be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. 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. 2013). _________________________________________________ J.W. ZISSIMOS 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).