Citation Nr: 19129082
Decision Date: 04/16/19	Archive Date: 04/15/19

DOCKET NO. 18-17 279
DATE:	April 16, 2019

REMANDED

Entitlement to an initial rating higher than 30 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.

Entitlement to a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from September 1966 to September 1968.  

A remand is necessary to provide the Veteran with a new VA examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected PTSD and to further develop the newly raised claim for entitlement to a TDIU.

Increased Rating for PTSD

The Veteran was last afforded a VA compensation examination for PTSD in February 2016 in connection with his claim for service connection.  Given his lay reports of worsening PTSD symptoms in both his May 2016 notice of disagreement and March 2018 substantive appeal, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to obtain a new VA examination to help determine the current severity of his service-connected PTSD.  See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997).

TDIU

The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court) has held that a request for TDIU is part and parcel of a higher rating when raised by the record.  Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009).  Here, in both the May 2016 notice of disagreement and March 2018 substantive appeal the Veteran indicated that he was unemployed due to his service-connected PTSD.  In light of the above, the issue of a TDIU is inextricably intertwined with the issue being remanded and adjudication of TDIU must be deferred pending the proposed development.  See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Ensure that all outstanding VA treatment records are associated with the claims file.

2.  Send the Veteran the appropriate notice as to how to substantiate his request for a TDIU.  Also provide him with a VA Form 21-8940, Veteran’s Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, for completion, with instructions to return the form to the RO.

3.  After associating any outstanding VA treatment notes with the claims file, provide the Veteran with an appropriate VA examination to help determine the current extent and severity of his service-connected PTSD.  The claims file and a copy of this remand will be made available to the examiner, who will acknowledge receipt and review of these materials.

After a careful review of the record and examination of the Veteran, the examiner is asked to determine the current level of severity of the Veteran’s PTSD, to include any impact on his ability to work based on his prior occupational and educational background.

4.  Thereafter, readjudicate the remanded claims, to include entitlement to a TDIU.

 

S. B. MAYS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Yaffe, Associate Counsel