Citation Nr: A21020077
Decision Date: 12/16/21	Archive Date: 12/16/21

DOCKET NO. 200701-96169
DATE: December 16, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to a rating higher than 30 percent for PTSD with obsessive compulsive disorder and adjustment disorder (acquired psychiatric disorder) is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The June 2020 rating decision was issued to effectuate a May 2020 Board decision which granted service connection for PTSD with obsessive compulsive disorder and is therefore not a valid target of a notice of disagreement as to that issue.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

This is not a valid appeal of the issue of entitlement to increased rating for an acquired psychiatric disorder and the issue is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.205; see Harris v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 345, 348 (2005); see also Smith v. Brown, 35 F.3d 1516, 1526 (Fed. Cir. 1994); Donovan v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 404, 409 (1997).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from November 1986 to February 1987 and from March 1990 to April 1993. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2020 rating decision.  

By way of procedural history, in May 2020, the Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and remanded the issue of entitlement to a rating higher than 30 percent for an acquired psychiatric disorder; entitlement to service connection for IBS and entitlement to TDIU.  The June 2020 rating decision erroneously continued the 30 percent rating for an acquired psychiatric disorder; however, this rating decision should have only implanted the grant of service connection for the PTSD and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder as granted in the May 2020 Board decision. In July 2020, the Veteran submitted a VA Form 10182 Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) in which he disagreed with the assigned 30 percent rating for PTSD with obsessive compulsive disorder and adjustment disorder. The Board notes that the issue of increased rating for an acquired psychiatric disorder was already in remand status; therefore, the July 2020 notice of disagreement is for an issue that is already before the Board in another appeal stream.    

(Continued on the next page)

 

As the June 2020 rating decision's implementation of the Board's grant of service connection for PTSD with obsessive compulsive disorder is not a valid target for a notice of disagreement, it is not a valid appeal as to the rating assigned for the acquired psychiatric disorder, and the issue must be dismissed. 

 

ALEXIS M. PARRISH

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Hemphill

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.