Citation Nr: 18142899
Decision Date: 10/18/18	Archive Date: 10/17/18

DOCKET NO. 15-38 872A
DATE:	October 18, 2018
ORDER
The appeal is dismissed as moot because entitlement to service connection for a bipolar disorder has been granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Entitlement to service connection for a bipolar disorder was granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in August 2017. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The grant of service connection for a bipolar disorder rendered moot the sole claim over which the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) has jurisdiction in this appeal stream.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104; 38 C.F.R. § 20.101. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from August 2008 to July 2013, and his many decorations include a Combat Infantryman Badge and Iraq Campaign Medal.  In September 2013, the Veteran claimed service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  In March 2014, the RO granted service connection for PTSD awarding a 10 percent evaluation effective the date following the Veteran’s discharge.  In December 2014, the Veteran raised a new psychiatric disability claim based on his bipolar disorder.   
In December 2014 and January 2015, the Veteran underwent two VA examinations in order to: (1) verify the presence of a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD; (2) determine the relationship between such other disorder, if any, and PTSD; and (3) establish the possibility of distinguishing between the Veteran’s symptoms caused by PTSD and such other disorder.  A VA examiner: (1) recorded the stressors detailed by the Veteran; (2) diagnosed the Veteran with a bipolar disorder in addition to PTSD; but (3) did not comment on distinguishing between the Veteran’s symptoms caused by PTSD and by bipolar disorder.  In March 2015, the RO issued a rating decision continuing the PTSD evaluation at 10 percent but denying service connection for bipolar disorder.  In November 2015, the Veteran appealed the RO’s denial of service connection for bipolar disorder to the Board and requested a hearing.  In April 2016, the Veteran withdrew his hearing request. 
In August 2017, while the appeal was pending, the Veteran underwent another psychiatric examination, during which a VA examiner: (1) stated that the Veteran’s bipolar disorder was not service connected; but (2) acknowledged that it was impossible to distinguish between the Veteran’s symptoms caused by different psychiatric disorders; and (3) determined that the Veteran’s overall psychiatric condition had worsened.  In August 2017, the RO assessed the Veteran’s PTSD and bipolar disorder jointly, and issued a rating decision evaluating the Veteran’s psychiatric disability caused by these comorbid disorders at 50 percent. 
In light of the RO’s August 2017 decision reclassifying the Veteran’s service connected psychiatric disability as posttraumatic stress disorder with alcohol disorder and unspecified bipolar disorder, the Board finds that the RO’s August 2017 rating decision effectively granted service connection for bipolar disorder upon correctly evaluating the Veteran’s comorbid diagnoses jointly.  See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 5 (2009).  Given that there is no perfected claim in this appeal stream other than the service connection claim for a bipolar disorder, and that claim was granted in full by the RO’s August 2017 rating decision, this appeal is moot and should be dismissed.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104; 38 C.F.R. § 20.101; Church of Scientology v. United States, 506 U.S. 9, 12 (1992).  The Board acknowledges that, in August 2018, the Veteran filed a timely Notice of Disagreement challenging the August 2017 rating decision as to the RO’s evaluation and effective date of the Veteran’s psychiatric disability caused by his comorbid disorders, and that appeal is currently pending, and is currently not before the Board.
 
A. P. SIMPSON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Anna Kapellan, Associate Counsel