Citation Nr: 21061601
Decision Date: 10/04/21	Archive Date: 10/04/21

DOCKET NO. 15-46 623
DATE: October 4, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active duty service from October 1976 to October 1978.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

In December 2015, the Veteran requested a Board hearing.  In November 2017, the Veteran withdrew his hearing request. 

In August 2019, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD.  The Veteran appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In a September 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) the parties agreed that the Board's decision should be vacated.  In September 2020, the Court vacated the Board's decision, and remanded the issue to the Board for action consistent with the JMR.  The Board subsequently remanded the issues in February 2021.  The claim has been returned to the Board for appellate review. 

Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability is remanded.

The Board notes that the Veteran claimed outstanding treatment records from a VA facility.  He specifically noted that he was diagnosed with PTSD in the 1980s at the Bonham Texas Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans North Center. The Veteran submitted a release specifically noting the Bonham VA Medical Center and other locations.  The contractor who obtains records for VA returned the release form stating that it was illegible.  The claims file contains no documentation that the RO requested a new release form or obtained the records by reviewing the form and acting independently of the contractor.  The Board additionally notes that some records from the Sam Rayburn facility from 1997 to 1998 were associated in 1998, but the date range was limited in that request to those specific years.  As such, there has not been substantial compliance with the Board's previous remand directives regarding the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability.  Another remand is required.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998).  

(Continued on the next page)

 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Identify and obtain any outstanding VA treatment records, to include any records from Bonham Texas Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans North Center from 1980 to 1989, the VA Central Healthcare System in Des Moines, Iowa from 1998 to 2007, and/or the VA North Texas Health Care System.  All attempts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims file.  Records must be specifically requested in paper.  If any records are requested but not received, a memorandum indicating all efforts undertaken must be associated with the claims file.

 

 

Jennifer White

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Patricia Veresink, 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.