Citation Nr: 18147980
Decision Date: 11/06/18	Archive Date: 11/06/18

DOCKET NO. 17-39 602
DATE:	November 6, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a prostate disorder, to include benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), including as secondary to exposure to herbicide agents, is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for a neuropsychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and unspecified anxiety disorder, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from April 1964 to March 1966, to include service in the republic of Vietnam. 
In January 2018, the Board denied the Veteran’s claims on appeal, in part, based on October 2016 VA examinations, which found that the Veteran was not diagnosed with prostate cancer, and did not have a current diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. 
The Veteran appealed the Board’s January 2018 denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), and by an August 2018 Order, the Court granted a July 2018 Motion for Joint Remand (JMR), which found that the Board erred in relying upon inadequate VA examinations.  
Specifically, regarding the claim for a prostate disorder, the JMR indicated that the October 2016 VA examiner only considered prostate cancer, but failed to address any other prostate conditions, to include BPH.  
As it pertains to the neuropsychiatric disorder, the JMR determined that the October 2016 VA examiner failed to consider competent lay assertions of psychiatric symptoms since service, and instead relied upon lack of treatment or prescribed medication, despite evidence of treatment in service and competent lay assertions of symptoms since service separation.
Accordingly, the appeal is remanded for further development in compliance with the July 2018 JMR.
The matters are REMANDED for the following actions:
1. Ensure that all outstanding VA treatment records since the June 2017 SOC are associated with the claims file.
2. Then, provide the Veteran with an appropriate VA examination, to determine the nature and etiology of any currently diagnosed prostate disorder.  The claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to the examiner, who shall indicate that the claims file was reviewed.  The examiner is asked to respond to the following:
(a) Identify all currently diagnosed prostate disorders, to include BPH.
(b) For each currently diagnosed prostate disorder, provide an opinion as to whether it, at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or higher), had its onset during service or is otherwise causally or etiologically related to it, to include conceded exposure to herbicide agents.  In doing so, please address a May 2016 VA Agent Orange Registry note showing diagnosis of BPH. 
The examiner should provide a complete rationale for all opinions. 
3. Provide the Veteran with a VA mental health examination to determine the nature and etiology of any currently diagnosed neuropsychiatric disorder.  The claims file and a copy of this remand must be made available to the examiner, who shall indicate that the claims file was reviewed.  The examiner is asked to respond to the following:
(a) Identify all currently diagnosed neuropsychiatric disorders, to include PTSD and anxiety disorder.  If a certain disorder is no longer present, fully explain why it has since resolved or progressed to another disorder.  Reconcile diagnoses of PTSD and anxiety in 2004, and the Veteran’s competent reports of suffering from nervous condition since separation from service.
(b) For each currently diagnosed neuropsychiatric disorder, provide an opinion as to whether it, at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or more), had its onset in service or is otherwise causally or etiologically related to it.  
The examiner should provide a complete rationale for all opinions. 
Please note: lack of contemporaneous medical records does not serve as an “absolute bar” to the service connection claim and cannot be used as a rationale in explaining why the current disorder is not related to service.  If the examiner cannot offer an opinion without resort to speculation, he or she should explain why and state what additional evidence, if any, would be required to offer an opinion.
4.  Thereafter, readjudicate the claims on appeal. 

 
ROMINA CASADEI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Yaffe, Associate Counsel