Citation Nr: 18155127
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/03/18

DOCKET NO. 11-14 570
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from April 1971 to April 1975.
The Board remanded the Veteran’s appeal in an August 2014 decision, then denied the Veteran's appeal in an August 2017 decision.  The Veteran appealed the denial of the claims to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In June 2018, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) filed by the parties, which directed that the Board’s August 2017 decision denying service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder be vacated and remanded.
In the June 2018 JMR, the parties agreed that the Board erred when it relied on a VA examination conducted in October 2014, along with a February 2015 addendum, which determined that the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) conforming with the DSM.  The parties agreed that the examination was inadequate because the examiner relied on the DSM-5 criteria, when the appeal had been certified to the Board in December 2011, prior to VA’s implementation of the DSM-5 on August 4, 2014.  As such, the DSM-IV was the proper governing directive.  The parties further agreed that the October 2014 VA examiner’s opinion regarding depressive disorder was inadequate because it failed to take into consideration the Veteran's May 2011 lay statements that he had suffered depression, difficulty concentrating, and anger during service, and had experienced nightmares, flashbacks, phobias, and road rage since that time.  
The JMR directed the Board to ensure that an additional medical opinion is obtained.  As such, a remand for an addendum opinion is necessary.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Contact the Veteran, and, with his assistance, identify any outstanding records of pertinent medical treatment from private or VA health care providers and associate them with the claims file.
2. After the above development has been completed to the extent possible, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination with an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD and depressive disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV.  The examining clinician should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely not (50 percent or greater probability) that any diagnosed acquired psychiatric disorder is etiologically related to his active service.  If PTSD is diagnosed, the examining clinician should identify the specific stressors that led to the condition.
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The examiner must specifically address the Veteran's assertions in his May 2011 VA Form 9 that he suffered depression, difficulty concentrating, and anger during service, and has experienced nightmares, flashbacks, phobias, and road rage since.
 
DONNIE R. HACHEY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	E. Mine, Associate Counsel