Citation Nr: 18154857
Decision Date: 11/30/18	Archive Date: 11/30/18

DOCKET NO. 16-54 934
DATE:	November 30, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1970 to February 1972.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Veteran’s representative asserted that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities prevent him from work in a February 2018 brief. As such, the issue of entitlement to TDIU has been raised by the record and is part and parcel to the Veteran’s increased ratings claims.  Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009). It will be addressed in the REMAND portion of the decision.


1. PTSD in excess of 70 Percent
The Veteran was afforded a VA PTSD examination in January 2013.  The examiner noted that the Veteran had occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity.  He had symptoms including depressed mood, difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships, inability to establish and maintain effective relationships, and impaired impulse control.  While the Veteran’s attorney has provided a more recent opinion that the Veteran’s PTSD and other service-connected disabilities render him unable to maintain substantial gainful employment, this was not based on an in-person examination of the Veteran and instead relied primarily on the January 2013 VA examination, which is now more than 5 years old.  Due to the more than five years since the prior VA examination, and the lack of a more recent in-person examination, the Board finds that the Veteran should be afforded a new VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his disability.  See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997).  
2. TDIU  
With respect to the Veteran’s assertion that he is unable to work due to his claimed service-connected disabilities, the Board concludes that further development and adjudication of the Veteran’s claims for service connection for PTSD may provide evidence in support of his claim for TDIU.  The Board has therefore concluded that it would be inappropriate at this juncture to enter a final determination on that issue.  See Henderson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 11 (1998), citing Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991) (where a decision on one issue would have a “significant impact” upon another, and that impact in turn could render any review of the decision on the other claim meaningless and a waste of appellate resources, the claims are inextricably intertwined).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected PTSD.  The claims file must be made available to the examiner and any indicated diagnostic tests and studies must be accomplished.
The examiner is also asked to opine on the nature and extent of the social and industrial impairment attributable to the service-connected PTSD.
 
Michael J. Skaltsounis
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Daniels, Associate Counsel