Citation Nr: 20004145 Decision Date: 01/16/20 Archive Date: 01/16/20 DOCKET NO. 19-20 194 DATE: January 16, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, to include PTSD is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from October 1972 to February 1974. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, to include PTSD. is remanded. The Veteran asserts that he is entitled to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. Specifically, he states, that during service he was harassed by senior officers for not being able to work due to shoulder/ elbow based on heavy lifting. As a result, he was assigned worse duties and forced to go out in artillery targeted areas on highly dangerous jobs where there were explosives. Consequently, he states, he became depressed and left fearful and stressed at all times. See July 2018 VA Form 21-0782, Statement in Support of Claim. In August 2018, the Veteran was afforded an initial PTSD examination. The examiner did not diagnose PTSD that conforms to DSM-5 criteria or an any mental disorder that conforms to DSM-5 criteria. In April 2018, the Veteran’s examiner diagnosed the Veteran with PTSD and a depressive. The examiner opined that the Veteran’s PTSD was due to events he experienced during active duty service. However, the examiner provided no rationale for the opinion. In addition, the examiner cited the Veteran’s report that his depressive had its onset in service due to his left elbow injury. In this regard, VA established service connection for the residuals of the Veteran’s in-service left elbow disability and a 10 percent rating was assigned, effective February 28, 1974. The Veteran’s post-operative residuals of internal fixation following a fracture of the left elbow is evaluated as 20 percent disabling, effective March 1, 2012. Service connection is also in effect for a post-operative scar of the left elbow, which is rated as noncompensably disabling. In light of the foregoing, the Board finds that an opinion regarding direct and secondary service connection is necessary to adjudicate this appeal. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Notify the Veteran that he may submit lay statements from himself and other individuals who have first-hand knowledge, and/or were contemporaneously informed of his psychiatric symptomatology—to include the nature of his symptoms and when they began. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the onset, nature and etiology of his psychiatric disabilities. Based on a review of the file and the lay evidence regarding the onset of his psychiatric problems, the examiner should respond to the following: a. Identify all psychiatric disabilities found to be present. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of PTSD and depressive disorder. b. With respect to each diagnosed psychiatric disability, state whether it is at least as likely as not each condition had its onset in service or is related to service. In doing so, the examiner must acknowledge and discuss the April 2018 private psychiatric report and private PTSD treatment counseling notes. The examiner must state whether must also state whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran has a psychiatric disability that had its onset in service related to the Veteran’s in-service left elbow injury. The examiner must also opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran has a psychiatric disability, to specifically include a depressive disorder, that was caused or aggravated by his service-connected left elbow disability, to include his post-operative left elbow scar. The examiner should give a reasoned explanation for all opinions provided. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Jacquelynn M. Jordan, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.