Citation Nr: 18145954
Decision Date: 10/30/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 17-56 306
DATE:	October 30, 2018
REMANDED
The issue of entitlement to a higher initial rating for unspecified major depressive disorder, currently evaluated as 30 percent disabling, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1974 to December 1977.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a May 2017 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Entitlement to an Increased Initial Rating for Major Depressive Disorder
The record includes a January 2018 VA psychiatric; however, the Veteran’s claim was not readjudicated and that examination has not been considered by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) in the first instance.  
As pertinent evidence has been received since the September 2017 statement of the case, the AOJ must readjudicate the claim, giving consideration to all evidence currently of record and providing the Veteran a supplemental statement of the case.  38 C.F.R. § 19.31 (2017).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Review the expanded record, including the evidence entered since the most recent statement of the case, and determine whether an increased initial rating for service-connected major depressive disorder may be granted.  If the benefit sought remains denied, furnish the Veteran and his representative with a supplemental statement of the case.  The appropriate period should be allowed for response before the appeal is returned to the Board.
 
 
M.E. Larkin
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. G. LeMoine, Associate Counsel