Citation Nr: 18159052
Decision Date: 12/18/18	Archive Date: 12/18/18

DOCKET NO. 15-29 823
DATE:	December 18, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1980 to March 1984. He served honorably in the United States Marine Corps, including in Beirut, Lebanon, where he earned the Combat Action Ribbon for his service during the 1983 attack on the U.S. Embassy. The Board thanks the Veteran for his service to our country. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Newark, New Jersey. In December 2018, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.
Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is remanded.
The evidence received at the time of the December 2018 hearing includes a statement from was from S.R., an LCSW/readjustment counselor who notes that the Veteran is diagnosed with PTSD at the VA outpatient clinic in Brick, New Jersey.  However, the evidence of record does not contain these treatment records; only a medication list and a list of appointments was provided.  The August 2015 statement of the case noted that a search for VA outpatient treatment records was negative at that time for any location.  The evidence currently of record is insufficient for rendering a decision on the Veteran’s claim for service connection for PTSD; accordingly, a remand for a VA examination with an appropriate clinician is required. Relatedly, the Board finds that although the Veteran failed to appear at a VA examination for PTSD in April 2015, during the hearing he showed good cause such that another examination will be provided. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.655. 
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. After obtaining any necessary authorizations, please associate with the claims file all outstanding VA and non-VA medical records pertaining to the Veteran’s acquired psychiatric disorders, including from VA’s Vet Center in Lakewood, New Jersey; VA’s James J. Howard Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Brick, New Jersey since August 2015; and Seabrook House, a private facility where the Veteran was hospitalized in May and June 2018. 
2. After the record has been determined to be complete, please schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his acquired psychiatric disorders, to include PTSD. The claims file must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner. The examiner must provide an opinion responding to the following:
(a.) Is it at least as likely as not (i.e., at least a 50 percent probability) that the Veteran has PTSD related to his service, to include his confirmed combat service in the Marine Corps during the 1983 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon? In rendering this opinion, VA treatment records from the Vet Center in Lakewood, New Jersey, the James J. Howard Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Brick, New Jersey, and Seabrook House should be considered and discussed as necessary.
(b.) Is it at least as likely as not (i.e., at least a 50 percent probability) that the Veteran has a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD related to his service?
The examiner should consider and discuss the relevant evidence as necessary. A complete explanation should be provided for all opinions given. If an opinion cannot be provided without resorting to speculation, such should be stated and an explanation as to why this is so given with a note as to what, if any, additional evidence would permit such an opinion to be made.
 
M. C. GRAHAM
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Fales, Associate Counsel