Citation Nr: 18153550
Decision Date: 11/28/18	Archive Date: 11/27/18

DOCKET NO. 15-00 927
DATE:	November 28, 2018

REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from June 1973 to June 1979.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Veteran and his brother testified at a November 2018 Board videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  This case has been processed through the Board’s “one-touch” initiative program.  A copy of the hearing transcript will be associated with the claims file.
Regarding the characterization of the claim, the Veteran initially submitted a claim for service connection for PTSD; however, his medical record contains diagnoses of other psychiatric disorders.  As such, the Board has recharacterized his claim to include entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, to contemplate the Veteran’s psychiatric symptoms, however diagnosed.  See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App, 1, 5 (2009).
1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is remanded.
The Veteran has a current diagnosis of PTSD, which he attributes to a military sexual trauma (MST).  Given that there is medical evidence of a current psychiatric disorder and a reported MST, a VA compensation examination should be afforded to him.  See McClendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006).  To date, VA has not obtained a competent medical examination and opinion addressing this claim.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1.  Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of each currently diagnosed acquired psychiatric disorders, to include PTSD.  The entire claims file, including a copy of this Remand, should be made available to, and be reviewed by, the VA examiner.
After review of the claims file and examining the Veteran, the VA examiner shall:
Provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran’s acquired psychiatric disorders, to include PTSD, is related to, or caused by the Veteran’s reported MST.  In doing so, address any in-service markers of a personal assault and the August 2013 letter from a VA staff psychiatrist.
The examiner should provide a complete rationale for all opinions expressed. 
If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, then he or she must so state, and must provide an explanation why an opinion would be speculative.
2. Then, readjudicate the issue on appeal.

 
S. B. MAYS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Thomas, Associate Counsel