Citation Nr: 21061983
Decision Date: 10/06/21	Archive Date: 10/06/21

DOCKET NO. 17-04 208
DATE: October 6, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded.  

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from July 1996 to July 2000 and from February 2009 to February 2010.  He served in Iraq.  The Veteran had additional duty with the West Virginia Army National Guard.  

Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD is remanded.  

The report of a December 2019 psychiatric examination conducted for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that the Veteran indicated that "he continues to receive treatment at the VA outpatient facility in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, where he receives monthly counseling and sees a psychiatrist via telehealth once every three months."  

VA clinical documentation dated after November 2019 is not of record.  VA should obtain all relevant VA and private treatment records which could potentially be helpful in resolving the Veteran's claim.  Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).  

1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for each private healthcare provider who has treated the service connected PTSD.  Make two requests for the authorized records from all identified healthcare providers unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile.  

2. Obtain any VA treatment records not of record, to include those pertaining to treatment at the Prestonsburg, Kentucky, VA outpatient facility after March 2021.  

. 

 

J. T. HUTCHESON

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Emily A. Kotroco

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.