Citation Nr: 18157166 Decision Date: 12/13/18 Archive Date: 12/11/18 DOCKET NO. 16-56 562 DATE: December 13, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and generalized anxiety disorder, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active duty service from May 1980 to February 1983. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2012 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in June 2017. During the Veteran’s hearing, he testified that during military service he was seen as an in-patient for psychiatric treatment at the ADAK Alaska and Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospitals in 1981. A review of the claims file demonstrates that discharge reports from May 1981 for those two facilities are of record. However, in an August 2012 VA Form 21-4142 the Veteran indicated that he was also treated at the Norfolk Naval Hospital for psychiatric treatment during his period of service. The Veteran is shown to have been stationed in Norfolk at the time of his discharge from service, although there are not psychiatric treatment records from that facility of record and it does not appear that any attempt to obtain any records from the Norfolk Naval Hospital has been made by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) as of this decision. Accordingly, a remand is necessary in order to obtain those records. On remand, the Board also finds that any outstanding VA treatment records should also be obtained. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(b), (c); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(b); see also Sullivan v. McDonald, 815 F.3d 786 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (where the Veteran “sufficiently identifies” other VA medical records that he or she desires to be obtained, VA must also seek those records even if they do not appear potentially relevant based upon the available information); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). Likewise, the Veteran testified during his hearing that he had been treated by Dr. L.G., a private psychologist, for 3 years. After his hearing, the Veteran submitted an August 2017 private psychiatric Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) from Dr. L.G., although the private treatment records are still not of record. On remand, the AOJ should contact the Veteran and after obtaining the appropriate authorization, attempt to obtain and associate with the claims file those identified private treatment records. See Id. Finally, the Board has reviewed the most recent August 2016 VA psychiatric examination report; the examiner noted that the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of PTSD under the DSM-5 criteria. However, the examiner did not address whether the Veteran’s other noted psychiatric disorders, including depressive and anxiety disorders noted by Drs. M.T. and L.G. in their DBQ’s of record, were related to the Veteran’s military service. On remand, the Board finds that another VA examination should be obtained which adequately addresses the totality of the psychiatric issues in this case. See Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007); Kowalski v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 171, 179 (2005) (a VA examination must be based on an accurate factual premise).   The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all outstanding service treatment records and any outstanding inpatient treatment records, to include any psychiatric treatment records from the Norfolk Naval Hospital, and associate those records with the claims file. If such records are not available and further attempts to obtain those records would be futile, such should be noted in a memorandum of unavailability which is placed in the claims file and the Veteran should be so notified. 2. Obtain all records of inpatient psychiatric treatment of the Veteran from March through May 1981 at ADAK Alaska and Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospitals. 3. Obtain any and all VA treatment records not already associated with the claims file from the Louisville and New Albany VA Medical Centers, or any other VA medical facility that may have treated the Veteran and associate those documents with the claims file. 4. Send a letter to the Veteran requesting that he identify any private treatment that he may have had for his psychiatric disorder, which is not already of record, including any and all treatment records from Dr. L.G. After securing the necessary releases, attempt to obtain and associate those identified treatment records with the claims file. If any identified records cannot be obtained and further attempts would be futile, such should be noted in the claims file and the Veteran should be notified so that he can make an attempt to obtain those records on his own behalf. 5. Ensure that the Veteran is scheduled for a VA psychiatric examination with an examiner that has not previously participated in this case in order to determine whether any current psychiatric disorder is related to military service. The claims file must be made available to and be reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. Following review of the claims file and examination of the Veteran, the examiner should identify all DSM-V psychiatric disorders currently suffered by the Veteran, to include any anxiety or depressive disorders, and/or PTSD. If PTSD is diagnosed, the examiner should specify the incident or stressor with which that diagnosis is being made and whether such stressor occurred during military service. In so discussing whether such diagnosis is proper at any time during the appeal period, the examiner must discuss the Veteran’s statements that he was hazed and beaten during military service, as well as the report of such hazing and “beatings” during military service in March 1981. It appears that the Veteran was subsequently counseled in April 1981 for excessive alcohol abuse during service following those reports, as well as two subsequent in-patient hospitalizations for psychiatric treatment in May 1981 at the Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital. The examiner should additionally address this evidence, as well as the Veteran’s treatment for a ruptured right tympanic membrane in May 1981 while “horsing around,” which the Veteran has stated that he mis-reported in order to cover up the fact that these beating were occurring. The examiner must address this evidence, as well as the other VA examiners’ findings and conclusions that the Veteran was not credible in his reports that such hazing and beating occurred during service and that such therefore cannot be the basis of a finding for PTSD. The examiner should additionally consider all the other types of circumstantial evidence noted under 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f)(5) in this case in determining whether a diagnosis of PTSD on the basis of an in-service personal assault is appropriate in this case. For each non-PTSD psychiatric disorder found, to include anxiety and depressive disorders, the examiner should provide an opinion regarding whether each disorder more likely, less likely, or at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) began in or is otherwise related to military service, to include any treatment for psychiatric problems noted therein, particularly from March 1981 through May 1981, as well as the reported incidents of hazing and “beatings” during military service as noted above. Furthermore, the examiner must discuss whether the psychiatric symptomatology noted during military service is a manifestation of the Veteran’s current psychiatric disorder. In addressing the above opinions, the examiner should consider any of the Veteran’s lay statements of record regarding onset of symptoms and any continuity of symptomatology since onset and/or since discharge from service. The examiner should also consider any other pertinent evidence of record, as appropriate. All findings should be reported in detail and all opinions must be accompanied by a clear rationale. JAMES G. REINHART Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. Peters, Counsel