Citation Nr: 18142785
Decision Date: 10/17/18	Archive Date: 10/16/18

DOCKET NO. 13-29 011
DATE:	October 17, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an evaluation in excess of 70 percent for the service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder is remanded.
Entitlement to a TDIU is remanded.  
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty with the United States Army from January 1974 to August 1975.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2011 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a hearing in January 2017.
1. Entitlement to an evaluation in excess of 70 percent for the service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder is remanded.
The Veteran testified at the January 2017 hearing that the symptoms of his service-connected psychiatric disorder have worsened in severity since the previous VA examination in December 2011.  Although the Veteran’s representative asserted at the hearing that the previous VA examination supports an award of a 100 percent evaluation for the psychiatric disorder, the examination he cited does not appear in the record.  Further, the examinations in the record, performed in December 2010 and December 2011, do not appear to support an increase in evaluation.
Therefore, because it appears that the disability has worsened since the last examination, a new VA examination is necessary to determine the current severity of the Veteran’s PTSD.  See Palczewski v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 174, 181-82 (2007); Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997).
2. Entitlement to a TDIU is remanded.
The TDIU issue is intertwined with the above remanded issue and is also remanded at this time.  See Henderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 11, 20 (1998); Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991).
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
Schedule the Veteran for an examination with an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of the Veteran’s service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.

 
M. HYLAND
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Josey, Associate Counsel