Citation Nr: 18155166
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/03/18

DOCKET NO. 17-25 322
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an effective date prior to September 7, 2015, for the grant of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU).
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from February 1969 to October 1971. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2015 rating decision which granted entitlement to a TDIU rating effective September 7, 2015.  The Veteran appealed for an earlier effective date for the grant of a TDIU.  
In June 2015, the Veteran and his spouse testified at a hearing before a Decision Review Officer (DRO) at the RO.  In January 2017, a Board videoconference hearing was held before a Veterans Law Judge.  During the Board hearing, the Veteran clarified that with respect to the earlier effective date claim for TDIU he wished to represent himself and proceed pro se.  A transcript of both hearings is in the record.
The appeal was previously remanded in September 2017 for additional development.  
The claim for entitlement to an increased rating for PTSD and the claim entitlement to an effective date prior to September 7, 2015 for eligibility to Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) under Chapter 35, are addressed in two other separate decisions under docket numbers 12-04 254 and 16-54 012, respectively, as they involve different laws and facts, and as the Veteran is representing himself as to one of these claims.  The increased rating claim for PTSD was most recently before the Board in April 2018, and the decision with respect to an earlier effective date for DEA will be issued separately by the Board.
Entitlement to an effective date prior to September 7, 2015, for the grant of a TDIU is remanded.
The Veteran claims entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 7, 2015, for the grant of a TDIU, because he asserts, in pertinent part, that his PTSD rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment during the period in question.  
The claim for entitlement to a higher rating for PTSD, addressed under docket number 12-04 254, was remanded in April 2018 for additional development, the outcome of which could bear on whether the Veteran meets the schedular criteria for TDIU benefits.  As the claim for an earlier effective date for the award of a TDIU is inextricably intertwined with the matter of an increased rating for PTSD, adjudication of this matter must be deferred pending resolution of the PTSD claim.  Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991) (holding that where a decision on one issue would have a “significant impact” upon another, and hat impact in turn could render any appellate review meaningless and a waste of judicial resources, the two claims are inextricably intertwined).
This will also allow the AOJ to consider in the first instance, relevant additional evidence recently added into the record, including a July 2018 medical opinion signed by P. Jindrich, Ph.D., and R. Kinkade, PsyD. 
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
After completing the development and readjudication of the claim for an increased rating for PTSD separately addressed by the Board under docket number 12-04 254, to include consideration of the private July 2018 medical opinion, and after undertaking any other development deemed appropriate, readjudicate the issue of entitlement to an effective date prior to September 7, 2015 for the award of a TDIU rating.
 
M. C. GRAHAM
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Azizi-Barcelo, Tatiana