Citation Nr: 18157546
Decision Date: 12/12/18	Archive Date: 12/12/18

DOCKET NO. 12-33 821A
DATE:	December 12, 2018
ORDER
The claim of entitlement to a rating higher than 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with major depression is dismissed.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. A June 2017 Board decision granted service connection for depression, and remanded an issue of entitlement to service connection for PTSD.
2. A July 2017 rating decision awarded a 30 percent evaluation for depression effective June 24, 2010.
3. An October 2017 rating decision awarded service connection for PTSD, and awarded a 50 percent rating for PTSD with major depression effective June 24, 2010.
4. The awards of service connection for depression and PTSD constituted a full grant of the benefits sought on appeal before the Board, and the Veteran has not initiated an appeal with respect to the initial rating and/or effective date of award assigned; the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the initial rating for PTSD with major depression.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
A claim for entitlement to a rating higher than 50 percent for PTSD with major depression is not properly before the Board. 38 U.S.C. §§ 511, 7104, 7105 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.101 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from November 1969 to November 1971.  
By way of history, this appeal was previously before the Board in June 2017.  At that time, the issues before the Board included entitlement to service connection for PTSD and depression.  The Board granted service connection for depression and remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for PTSD back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for further development.  
A July 2017 rating decision awarded a 30 percent evaluation for depression effective June 24, 2010.
An October 2017 rating decision awarded service connection for PTSD, and awarded a 50 percent rating for PTSD with major depression effective June 24, 2010.
Thereafter, the AOJ issued a Supplemental Statement of the Case on an issue of entitlement to a rating higher than 50 percent for PTSD with major depression, and certified an appeal to the Board.
The Secretary shall decide all questions of law and fact necessary to a decision by the Secretary under a law that affects the provision of benefits by the Secretary to Veterans or the dependents or survivors of Veterans.  38 U.S.C. § 511(a).  All questions in a matter which under sections 38 U.S.C. § 511(a) are subject to decision by the Secretary shall be subject to one review on appeal to the Secretary. Final decisions on such appeals shall be made by the Board.  Decisions of the Board shall be based on the entire record in the proceeding and upon consideration of all evidence and material of record and applicable provisions of law and regulation.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a).  The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege error of fact or law in the determination being appealed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105.
The Veteran’s claims for service connection for PTSD and depression, which were the issues properly appealed to the Board, were granted.  The awards of service connection terminated the appeals, and any disagreement with the initial rating or effective date of award assigned requires the filing of a new appeal.  Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997).  The Veteran has not filed a notice of disagreement with the initial rating or effective date of award assigned.  As there is no further case or controversy on the claims for service connection, and there is no appeal on the initial rating or effective date of award assigned, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the issue of entitlement to a higher initial rating for PTSD with major depression.  The claim, therefore, is dismissed.
 
T. MAINELLI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Orie, Associate Counsel