Citation Nr: 20021889
Decision Date: 03/27/20	Archive Date: 03/27/20

DOCKET NO. 17-06 747
DATE: March 27, 2020

REMAND

Service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from December 1964 to December 1966 and his service personnel records show that he had service in Vietnam and that he was also a cannoneer/field artillery crewman.  He cancelled a Board hearing in April 2019.  

The claim was filed on October 23, 2012. The appeal was remanded in May 2019. The remand noted that a July 27, 2012 psychiatry outpatient note (less than three months before the current claim was filed) diagnosed PTSD and depressive disorder, not otherwise specified.  The note was signed by a VA staff psychiatrist. The remand explicitly requested that the examiner discuss the diagnosis of depressive disorder in the requested medical opinion; however, depressive disorder was not discussed in the subsequent January 2020 VA examination and medical opinion.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998) (remand by the Board confers on an appellant the right to VA compliance with the terms of the remand order and imposes on the Secretary a concomitant duty to ensure compliance with those terms). Accordingly, another remand is required.

The presence of a chronic disability at any time during or immediately preceding the claims process can justify a grant of service connection, even where the most recent diagnosis is negative. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007); Romanowski v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 294 (2013) (holding the current disability requirement may be satisfied by evidence of the disability shortly before the claim is filed).

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions:

1. Obtain any outstanding non-VA or VA treatment records. Associate these with the claims file.

2. Please obtain a VA medical opinion which addresses:

(a.) Did the disabilities of PTSD and depressive disorder NOS exist at the time the Veteran filed his claim on October 23, 2012?  Please explain. The opinion provider must take as fact that the Veteran carried these diagnoses in July 2012.  

(b.) If PTSD and depressive disorder existed at the time the Veteran filed his claim on October 23, 2012, as to each diagnosis, is it at least as likely as not that the disorder is related to service?  Please explain. The opinion provider must take as fact that the Veteran has an acknowledged PTSD stressor/in-service event as a result of his 

 

experiences in Vietnam, including being under sniper fire. 

 

 

 

M. C. GRAHAM

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Lawson

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.