Citation Nr: 18158942 Decision Date: 12/18/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 16-61 339 DATE: December 18, 2018 ORDER Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including diagnosed as other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder, based upon substitution of the Appellant as the claimant, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran had an Axis I psychiatric diagnosis (of other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder) which is attributable to his fear of hostile military or terrorist activity in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Service connection for a variously diagnosed psychiatric disorder, including other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder, based upon substitution of the Appellant as the claimant, is warranted. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The moving party was a Veteran who served on active duty from April 1968 to November 1969. He died in February 2018. The Appellant is the Veteran’s surviving spouse. She seeks surviving spouse benefits and has been substituted as the claimant for the purposes of processing the claim to completion. 38 U.S.C. § 5121A. The Board apologies for the delays in the adjudication of this case. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder for substitution purposes The Appellant asserts that the Veteran developed an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, due to his experiences in service while stationed in Vietnam. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). In order to establish service connection for the claimed disorder, there must be evidence of (1) a current claimed disability; (2) incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service; and (3) a causal connection between the disease or injury in service and the current disability. See Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). A disorder diagnosed after discharge may still be service connected if all the evidence establishes that it was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). Service connection for PTSD requires: (1) medical evidence diagnosing the condition in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 4.125 (a), i.e., a diagnosis conforming to specified diagnostic criteria (currently the DSM-V, previously the DSM-IV); (2) credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor actually occurred; and (3) medical evidence of a link, or causal nexus, between current symptomatology and the claimed in-service stressor. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (f). If a stressor claimed by a veteran is related to the veteran’s “fear of hostile military or terrorist activity” and a VA or VA-contracted psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that the claimed stressor is adequate to support a diagnosis of PTSD, the veteran’s lay testimony alone may establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor so long as there is not clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and provided that the claimed stressor is consistent with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the veteran’s service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (f)(3). If a stressor is related to combat, then the veteran’s testimony alone is sufficient to establish the occurrence of this particular stressor. The Veteran’s service personnel records confirm his service in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal. His service treatment records are silent as to complaints and/or treatment referable to psychiatric symptoms. Post-service treatment records contain negative PTSD screen tests. In support of his claim, the Veteran submitted a private Psychological Consulting Services report dated in November 2013. The Veteran reported that his military occupational specialty was maintenance mechanic. He related seeing dead bodies while retrieving tanks for repairs. He also witnessed death and injury to fellow soldiers. He also related being traumatized during service when he learned that a childhood friend killed while stationed in Vietnam. The Veteran described feeling haunted by the deaths he witnessed during service and the fear that he could have easily been a casualty of war. Following an examination of the Veteran, the psychologist diagnosed severe chronic PTSD associated with the Veteran’s service stressors. An April 2014 VA PTSD examination report notes that the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of PTSD that conformed to the DSM V criteria; however, the examiner found that the Veteran had another mental disorder diagnoses, identified as “other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder” associated with military service and “unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder” not incurred in or due to the claimed in-service injury, event or illness, or related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. The examination report shows examination of the Veteran and review of his medical and military history, consideration of his reported stressors during service, including being exposed to frequent rocket and mortar attacks and seeing bodies of Vietnamese people scooped up with a front-end loader. The examiner remarked that the Veteran’s stressors were related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during his military service and he experienced intrusive memories of trauma, avoidance of stimuli, feelings of detachment, hypervigilance, anxiety, sleep disturbances, hyperarousal reactivity and avoidance, consistent with the diagnosis of an other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder. The examiner opined that the disorder was incurred in or due to the claimed in-service injury, event or illness, and related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. It is not in dispute that the Veteran had an acquired psychiatric disorder, variously diagnosed as PTSD, other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder, and schizophrenia with other psychotic disorder. Specifically, the April 2014 VA examiner diagnosed other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder. The VA examiner, who reviewed the entire record, conducted a thorough psychiatric evaluation, and provided a thorough explanation of rationale, has related the Veteran’s other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder to his military service. Further, this opinion is supported by other medical evidence in the claims file, namely the November 2013 Psychological Consulting Services report, to the extent the opinions associated the Veteran’s diagnosed psychiatric disability to his military service and that he has experienced symptoms of psychiatric impairment as a result of the reported in-service stressors. The Board finds no reason to question the expertise of the VA and non-VA examiners, or the opinions offered, and finds them probative and persuasive. All of the requirements for establishing service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder, are met; service connection for other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder is warranted. The Board acknowledges the Veteran’s statements claiming service connection for PTSD and the November 2013 Psychological Consulting Services report which the examiner found was caused by the Veteran’s reported stressors. However, review of the record does not show a diagnosis of PTSD in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 4.125 (a) by a “VA or VA-contracted psychiatrist or psychologist;” as such, service connection for PTSD is not supported by the opinion provided in November 2013 private report. (Continued on the next page)   Notwithstanding, the critical question in this matter is whether or not the Veteran’s psychiatric disability, however diagnosed, may be etiologically related to his service. To that extent, the Board notes that there is an adequate medical opinion in support of the Appellant’s claim, and no medical opinion of record that can be read as providing evidence against the Appellant’s claim. Thus, considering the overall evidence, and resolving remaining reasonable doubt in the Appellant’s favor, as required, the Board finds that the record reasonably shows that the Veteran had an acquired psychiatric disability related to events in active service. Therefore, service connection for such disability is warranted. This award of service connection for a variously diagnosed psychiatric disorder, including other specified trauma/stressor-related disorder, is considered a full grant of the benefit the Appellant seeks. See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 5 (2009). JOHN J CROWLEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Azizi-Barcelo, Tatiana