Citation Nr: 18145597 Decision Date: 10/29/18 Archive Date: 10/29/18 DOCKET NO. 14-04 899 DATE: October 29, 2018 REMANDED Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as acquired psychiatric condition to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and paranoia) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corp from August 1971 to August 1975. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in October 2015. The Board remanded the appeal in April 2016. 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is remanded. The June 2016 VA examiner’s nexus opinion is inadequate, as it relies solely on the absence of documentation in the Veteran’s service treatment records, warranting an addendum opinion on remand. Additionally, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction should obtain the Veteran’s complete service personnel records, attempt to verify the Veteran’s reported temporary duty (TDY) in Thailand and associated stressors, notify the Veteran of alternative sources for establishing a personal assault during service, and secure updated treatment records. This case is accordingly remanded for the following: 1. Provide the Veteran with a notice letter that complies with the notification requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f)(5). Inclusion of VA Form 21-0781a, without any further explanation in the body of the notice letter, will not suffice. 2. Obtain complete service personnel records. 3. Obtain any flight logs, travel orders, mission reports, supply log sheets, and any other available documentation to verify the Veteran’s report of TDY in Thailand for 9 days between July 1973 and July 1974. Please note that the requirement of a 60-day window for research purposes is in violation of the duty to assist. See Gagne v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 397 (2015) (VA’s duty to assist is not bound by the JSRRC’s 60-day limitation for stressor verification requests, and the fact that multiple records searches would burden JSRRC employees does not mean that those efforts would be “futile.”). 4. Attempt to verify the Veteran’s reported stressors of a shelling and the death of fellow servicemember Cheers. See April 2013 VA Form 21-0781. 5. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records. 6. Then obtain an addendum opinion from the June 2016 VA examiner. No additional examination of the Veteran is necessary, unless the examiner determines otherwise. Following review of the claims file, the examiner should address the following: (a) Please state whether it is a least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that schizoaffective disorder had its onset in or is otherwise related to service, to include any verified stressor therein. Please do not rely solely on the absence of documentation in the service treatment records. Moreover, please discuss the February 2018 statement from Dr. P.J.D. that schizoaffective disorder symptoms “either started in the military or were more likely than not exacerbated by stressors in the military,” as well as the February 2018 statement from L.S., MSW, LCSW that the Veteran’s “military experience interrupts his daily functioning.” (b) Please comment, to the best of your ability, whether the prodromal period for schizoaffective disorder as likely as not had its onset during the Veteran’s period of active service or within one year following discharge. (c) Please comment, to the best of your ability, whether the Veteran’s longstanding substance and alcohol abuse was related to any acquired psychiatric disorder, including whether such abuse was an attempt to self-medicate. In offering any opinion, the examiner should consider medical and lay evidence dated both prior to and since the filing of the claim. A complete rationale for any opinion must be provided. If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to speculation, he or she should expressly indicate that and provide a supporting rationale as to why that is so. S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Department of Veterans Affairs