Citation Nr: 21077227 Decision Date: 12/29/21 Archive Date: 12/29/21 DOCKET NO. 18-49 648 DATE: December 29, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1983 to December 1983. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an April 2017 rating decision that denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability. In August 2021, the Veteran and his wife testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is of record. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability Remand is required to provide the Veteran with a new VA examination. While the March 2017 VA examiner stated that he reviewed the claims file, it is not clear that he reviewed the February 2017 statements provided by the Veteran and his wife. For example, the VA examiner characterized a sexual experience during service as consensual, but the Veteran's statement indicates that this experience was not consensual. Similarly, the VA examiner attributed the Veteran's current symptoms to a stressful event in 2014 and suggested that the Veteran had few issues, to include at work and in marriage, from separation to 2014. However, the lay statements indicate significant issues during this period. On remand, the examiner must opine whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability is related to service, to include mental health treatment received during service and the stressors identified by the Veteran in his lay statements and hearing testimony. Furthermore, the Veteran's claims file should be developed. While the claims file contains the discharge summary from a private hospitalization during service, the claims file contains no other records from this facility. Moreover, at the hearing, the Veteran indicated that he talked with his family physician about depression prior to 2014. On remand, the Veteran should be provided with a VA Form 21-4142 to identify any private treatment for an acquired psychiatric disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for any private treatment for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include Charles Cannon Jr. Memorial Hospital. Make two requests for the authorized records from each identified provider, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination from an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disability, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If the Veteran is diagnosed with PTSD, the examiner must explain how the diagnostic criteria are met and opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to a verified in-service stressor. The examiner also must opine whether the evidence of record, including the February 2017 lay statements from the Veteran and his wife, the August 2021 hearing, and the Veteran's service records, corroborate the claim that a personal assault occurred in service (38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f)(5)). If the examiner finds that evidence indicates that a personal assault occurred during the Veteran's active service, the examiner must opine whether any PTSD is at least as likely as not related to the in-service personal assault. If the Veteran is not diagnosed with PTSD, the examiner should reconcile that conclusion with a December 2016 diagnosis of PTSD. If the Veteran is diagnosed with a personality disorder, the examiner should reconcile that conclusion with several December 1983 letters of appreciation. If the Veteran is diagnosed with a personality disorder, the examiner must opine whether any acquired psychiatric disability was at least as likely as not superimposed on a personality disorder during active service and resulted in additional disability. (Continued on the next page.) If any other acquired psychiatric disabilities are diagnosed, the examiner must opine whether each disability is at least as likely as not related to service, to include the mental health treatment received during service and the stressors identified by the Veteran in his lay statements and hearing testimony. The examiner should consider the February 2017 statements by the Veteran and his wife, and the August 2021 hearing. K. Parakkal Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Ormson, 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.