Citation Nr: 18146453 Decision Date: 10/31/18 Archive Date: 10/31/18 DOCKET NO. 14-26 925 DATE: October 31, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from August 1951 to May 1953. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran presented sworn testimony at a hearing before the undersigned in August 2016. This appeal was previously remanded by the Board in February 2016 and August 2016 for additional development. In October 2017, the Board denied the claim of service connection an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the Veteran thereafter appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In July 2018, the parties filed a Joint Motion for Remand (Joint Motion). In a July 2018 Order, the Court granted the Joint Motion for Remand and vacated the Board decision, remanding the case for action consistent with the terms of the Joint Motion. The case is once again before the Board. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. In the July 2018 Motion for Remand, the parties agreed that there had not been substantial compliance with the August 2016 remand directives. In the August 2016 decision, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for additional development, to include providing him with a VA examination. In the July 2018 Joint Motion, the parties agreed that while the Veteran has been provided multiple examinations and opinions following the Board’s August 2016 remand, none of the examinations and opinions adequately addressed the Veteran’s possible history of depression and bipolar disorder. The parties further agreed that the Board would ensure the Veteran is provided an adequate examination in furtherance of his claim that substantially complies with the August 2016 remand directives. Thus, the Board must remand this matter for compliance with the Court’s July 2018 order granting the parties’ joint motion to remand. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998); see also Forcier v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 414, 425 (2006) (holding that the duty to ensure compliance with the Court’s order extends to the terms of the agreement struck by the parties that forms the basis of the joint motion to remand); cf. McBurney v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 136, 140 (2009) (Board has a duty on remand to ensure compliance with the favorable terms stated in the JMR or explain why the terms will not be fulfilled.). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Notify the Veteran that he may submit lay statements from himself and from other individuals who have first-hand knowledge, and/or were contemporaneously informed of his in-service and post-service psychiatric symptomatology. The Veteran should be provided an appropriate amount of time to submit this lay evidence. 2. Afford the Veteran the opportunity to identify and submit any additional medical records regarding his psychiatric condition(s) since service. 3. Schedule the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination to address the nature, onset and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder found to be present. For the purposes of this opinion, the examiner must consider the Veteran’s statements regarding having psychiatric symptoms in service as competent and credible. a. For each psychiatric disorder diagnosed on examination, the examiner should opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not that his psychiatric disorder had its onset in service or is otherwise related to service. If depression and bipolar disorder are not diagnosed on examination, the examiner should address the indication   of a possible history of depression and bipolar disorder in the June 2013 VA treatment record. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Jacquelynn M. Jordan, Associate Counsel