Citation Nr: 18147825 Decision Date: 11/06/18 Archive Date: 11/06/18 DOCKET NO. 16-44 417 DATE: November 6, 2018 REMANDED 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. 2. Entitlement to an effective date prior to August 15, 2014, for the award of service connection for PTSD is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from February 1981 to May 1993, and also had additional Reserve service. These matters are before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2015 rating decision, which granted service connection for PTSD and assigned an initial rating of 30 percent effective August 15, 2014. 1. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for PTSD, is remanded. The most recent VA examination to assess the severity of the Veteran’s PTSD was in November 2015. His symptoms on examination included depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss, disturbances of motivation and mood, and difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances. Lay statements received in January 2016 from two of the Veteran’s friends note that his memory and recall have “diminished at an alarming rate” over the prior four years, and that he has become more guarded and withdrawn. In his September 2016 VA Form 9 (formal appeal), the Veteran reported that he suffers severe short and long-term memory loss, gross impairment in thought processes, obsessive rituals, and frequent panic attacks (suggesting that his psychiatric disability has worsened since the prior examination). In light of the length of intervening time period since the Veteran was last examined by VA (approximately three years), and the lay reports suggesting worsening (including his own report), a contemporaneous examination to assess the severity of his psychiatric disability is necessary. Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997). The Board notes that the Veteran is currently incarcerated in a correctional facility in Texas. The duty to assist incarcerated veterans requires VA to tailor its assistance to meet the peculiar circumstances of confinement because these individuals are entitled to the same care and consideration given to their fellow veterans. Bolton v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 185, 191 (1995). VA does not have the authority to require a correctional institution to release a veteran so that VA can provide him the necessary examination at the closest VA medical facility. See 38 U.S.C. § 5711. Nevertheless, VA’s duty to assist an incarcerated veteran includes: (1) attempting to arrange transportation of the claimant to a VA facility for examination; (2) contacting the correctional facility and having their medical personnel conduct an examination according to VA examination worksheets; or, (3) sending a VA or fee-basis examiner to the correctional facility to conduct the examination. See Bolton, 8 Vet. App. at 191. Accordingly, the AOJ should take all appropriate actions to determine the most appropriate method for obtaining a contemporaneous psychiatric examination of the Veteran. Additionally, as the most recent treatment records associated with the claims file are dated in September 2015 (from the facility in which he is incarcerated), the AOJ should request that the Veteran provide an appropriate authorization for any medical records pertaining to his psychiatric disability from that facility. 2. Entitlement to an effective date prior to August 15, 2014, for the award of service connection for PTSD, is remanded. The Veteran filed a timely January 2016 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) initiating an appeal of the November 2015 rating decision which granted service connection for PTSD; he specifically disagreed with the rating and the effective date assigned. Although a July 2016 Statement of the Case (SOC) addressed the matter of a higher initial rating, an SOC concerning the effective date of the award of service connection has not been issued. Accordingly, remand is necessary to furnish an SOC on this issue to the Veteran. See Manlincon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238 (1999). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Take appropriate steps, to include securing any necessary authorization from the Veteran, to obtain updated medical treatment records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (from September 2015 to the present). All efforts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims file. 2. Thereafter, arrange for the Veteran to be examined by a psychiatrist or psychologist to assess the current severity of his service-connected PTSD. [The Veteran is currently incarcerated; thus, the AOJ should take all appropriate actions to arrange for/conduct the examination, including coordinating with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as necessary.] The entire record (including this remand and the November 2015 PTSD examination report) must be reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. The examiner should note all psychiatric symptoms, including their frequency, severity, and impact on daily activity, social, and occupational functioning. The examiner must explain the rationale for all opinions in detail, citing to supporting factual data and/or medical literature, as deemed appropriate. 3. Review the record and issue an appropriate SOC addressing the claim of entitlement to an effective date prior to August 15, 2014, for the award of service connection for PTSD. The Veteran and his representative should be advised of the time limit for filing a substantive appeal, and that, in order for the Board to have full jurisdiction in the matter, a timely substantive appeal must be filed following the issuance of the SOC. If that occurs, the case should be returned to the Board. M. H. HAWLEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Dupont, Associate Counsel