Citation Nr: 18154721 Decision Date: 11/30/18 Archive Date: 11/30/18 DOCKET NO. 12-29 754 DATE: November 30, 2018 REMANDED Service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition is remanded. The claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from November 1972 to March 1975. This matter comes before the Board from a joint motion for remand (JMR) by the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The parties to the JMR found that the Board’s previous decision provided inadequate reasons and basis for a denial of service connection, failed to obtain potential of outstanding private treatment records from Methodist Healthcare, and failed to consider entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric condition other than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In January 2018 the Veteran’s representative indicates that the Veteran had sought to obtain the private treatment records referenced in the JMR, but that such records were unavailable. A release of information from the Veteran and letter from Methodist Health accompany the representative’s correspondence. As such, the Board finds that this correspondence is sufficient to satisfy the JMR and to conclude that the private treatment records are no longer available. The Veteran’s representative has also requested a new VA examination to consider whether service connection is warranted for an acquired psychiatric disability other than PTSD. To this end, the Veteran carries current psychiatric diagnoses, to include anxiety, bipolar disorder, and PTSD; and, historical diagnoses of depressive disorder, not otherwise specified, manic depression, and substance abuse. The record indicates that the Veteran received mental health treatment after his separation from service. The Veteran has asserted that his depression and anxiety are a result of his active military service. The record indicates that the Veteran may have experienced psychiatric symptoms during his active service. The Veteran reported depression or excessive worry on his February 1975 separation report of medical history, although he was found to be psychiatrically normal on his separation physical. Additionally, in January 2012 correspondence, the Veteran reported he was introduced to drugs while in service and that once he began attending nuclear power school he experienced a great deal of anxiety from that point forward. In additional correspondence, the Veteran reported that he experienced psychiatric symptoms upon discharge from service, to include anxiety, depression, and fear. In December 2010 correspondence, the Veteran asserted that depression and anxiety began after his early career discharge. He reported that after a civilian plea deal for drug possession, he lost his top-secret clearance, which “destroyed my career and my life,” and that he still dreams of the “failure to this day.” In June 2011 correspondence, the Veteran reported that he entered the US Navy in an attempt to avoid being drafted to service in Vietnam, which he feared greatly. The Veteran asserted that his fear associated with entrance into the military remained after joining the Navy. The Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of an acquired psychiatric condition because no VA examiner has opined whether the Veteran’s current diagnoses, other than PTSD, are causally related to his military service. The Court found the issue of TDIU was inextricably intertwined with the Veteran’s appeal for service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition. Notably the Veteran was granted Social Security disability benefits in part of due to affective/mood disorders. Because a decision on the remanded issue of an acquired psychiatric conditon could significantly impact a decision on the issue of entitlement to a TDIU, a remand of the claim is required. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for psychiatric examination. The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater) that an acquired psychiatric disability either began during or was otherwise caused by his military service. Why or why not? In so doing, the examiner should specifically consider not limited to the Veteran’s assertions that he suffers from abnormal fear, guilt, stress, and anxiety as a result of his enlistment in the military, attendance at nuclear power plant school, and an early career discharge from service; the examiner should also consider the Veteran’s notation of depression/excessive worry on his medical history survey completed in conjunction with his separation physical. (Continued on the next page)   2. Adjudicate entitlement to a TDIU. MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD R. I. Sims, Associate Counsel