Citation Nr: 18152642
Decision Date: 11/23/18	Archive Date: 11/23/18

DOCKET NO. 17-34 830
DATE:	November 23, 2018
REMANDED
Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran, who is the appellant, served on active duty from December 1986 to July 1992.
The Board has recharacterized the issue on appeal as service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD and depression, in accordance with the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) decision in Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009) (holding that a claim for benefits of one psychiatric disability also encompassed benefits based on other psychiatric diagnoses and should be considered by the Board to be within the scope of the filed claim).
The Veteran generally asserts having developed an acquired psychiatric disorder as a result of military service (claimed as service connection for PTSD).  A July 2015 VA treatment record reflects the Veteran is currently diagnosed with PTSD and depression.
The Veteran has identified several stressor events he asserts occurred during military service.  Specifically, in a March 2015 statement, the Veteran reported his sister’s murder in June 1988, a terrorist attack killing another servicemember in the Philippines in April 1989, and a friend’s suicide in 1990.  The Veteran maintains that these deaths that occurred during his time in service caused him mental and emotional distress that resulted in the development of an acquired psychiatric disorder.  In a November 2015 memorandum, the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) found the information the Veteran provided was insufficient to allow for meaningful research of the records.
The record indicates that the Veteran has also been diagnosed with depression, which has a lower evidentiary standard to support a service connection disability claim.  As such, the Board finds remand necessary to obtain a VA examination assessing all of the Veteran’s current acquired psychiatric disorders, and whether any of the disorders are related to one of the reported in-service stressors.
The matter is REMANDED for the following actions:
1. Schedule a VA examination in order to assess the nature and etiology of the claimed acquired psychiatric disorders.  The claims folder should be made available to the examiner for review, who should indicate on the examination report that he/she has reviewed the relevant documents.  The examiner should address the following:
(a.) List all current psychiatric diagnoses pertaining to the Veteran.
(b.) For each diagnosis, state whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e. probability of 50 percent or more) that any such acquired psychiatric disorder is related to service, to include the reported service stressors.
A rationale for all opinions and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved should be provided.  
2. Then, readjudicate the claim on appeal. 
 
ROMINA CASADEI
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	E. Choi, Associate Counsel