Citation Nr: 21012345
Decision Date: 03/04/21	Archive Date: 03/04/21

DOCKET NO. 15-45 190
DATE: March 4, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to include alcohol problem and depressive disorder, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1968 to October 1969. 

This appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) is from a November 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

The Veteran testified in support of this claim during a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in November 2020. A transcript of the hearing is of record.

This claim must be further developed before being decided on appeal, so the Board is remanding it back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ).

 

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, including associated alcohol problem and depressive disorder, is remanded.

During his November 2020 hearing, the Veteran referenced VA and private mental health treatment records that had not been obtained and associated with the claims file so are outstanding and relevant to this appeal. Specifically, he stated that he had received mental health care at the Culver City, California, Vet Center and from UCLA Behavioral Health Associates. He since has submitted some records from UCLA, however, they only date from October 2020 and show he also was treated there earlier – from May to October 2020. Therefore, his other treatment records also must be obtained so that they, too, may be considered. 

Accordingly, this claim is REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain the Veteran’s outstanding mental health treatment records – including for the period from May 2020 to the present from UCLA Behavioral Health Associates and for the period from August 2013 to the present from the Vet Center in Culver City, California.

 

To this end, ask that he complete and return a VA Form 21-4142 authorizing VA to obtain these confidential treatment records, and, if he provides the required amount of information, make the required number of attempts to obtain them – unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. Also appropriately notify him if unable to obtain the records identified. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c) and (e). 

 

KEITH W. ALLEN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	K. Pak

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.