Citation Nr: 18159663
Decision Date: 12/19/18	Archive Date: 12/19/18

DOCKET NO. 16-40 620
DATE:	December 19, 2018
ORDER
The claim of entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disability is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from February 1981 to February 2001.
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office (RO).
Further development is required prior to final adjudication of the claim on appeal.
The Veteran asserts that he incurred posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during service.  In support of his claim, he has described various psychiatric symptoms he has experienced since service, to include anxiety, depression, and anger.  His claim will be considered a claim for any acquired psychiatric disability to include PTSD.        See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 5 (2009).  
The Veteran underwent a VA PTSD examination in March 2015.  The examiner found that the Veteran did not have psychiatric disability.  Since then, however, VA medical evidence indicates that he may have a psychiatric disability.  An April 2016 VA treatment record indicates that the Veteran may have anxiety disability and perhaps even PTSD.  As such, the Veteran should undergo an additional VA examination.  
Further, all VA medical evidence, to include VA treatment records, should be included in the claims file.  The most recent VA treatment record in the claims file is the April 2016 record noted earlier.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Include in the claims file any outstanding VA treatment records.  
2. After the foregoing development has been completed, schedule an examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current psychiatric disability.  After reviewing the claims folder, interviewing the Veteran, and examining the Veteran, the examiner should answer the following questions: 
(a). What acquired psychiatric disabilities has the Veteran been diagnosed with since July 2014? 
(b). Is it at least as likely as not (i.e., probability of 50 percent or greater) that any such psychiatric disability is related to a disease, event, or injury experienced during service?
(c). In addressing PTSD: Does the Veteran have PTSD?  If so, are the symptoms underlying the PTSD diagnosis related to one or more of the Veteran’s reported stressor(s)?   
In answering these questions, discuss the service treatment records (STRs), post-service medical evidence, and the Veteran’s multiple lay statements of record in which he details distressing non-combat experiences during service.  Accept as credible the distressing experiences he describes.  In particular, accept as true his corroborated presence during the aftermath of an aircraft accident in North Carolina in 1994.  
Please explain in detail any opinion provided.

 
CHRISTOPHER MCENTEE
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	R. Smith, Associate Counsel