Citation Nr: 21014714 Decision Date: 03/15/21 Archive Date: 03/15/21 DOCKET NO. 17-18 641 DATE: March 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (DO), to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from July 1988 to July 1993. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a June 2012 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In September 2020, the Veteran testified at a virtual hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claims file. The Board notes that the RO characterized the Veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD as a petition to reopen a claim that was previously denied in June 2012. However, the RO did not send the statement of the case (SOC) to the appropriate Veteran’s representative, which caused the substantive appeal to not be returned within the sixty-day filing period. As such, the Board finds that the June 2012 rating decision is not final and new and material evidence is not necessary. 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric DO, to include PTSD is remanded. Throughout the course of the appeal, the Veteran was diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders, including depression, not otherwise specified (NOS), major depressive DO, depressive DO NOS, neurotic depression, anxiety DO NOS, depression NOS and generalized anxiety, unspecified depressive DO, and PTSD. The Veteran underwent a VA examination in May 2012. The VA examiner noted records from Hillcrest Hospital were not located, however, no record of attempts from the RO to obtain these records are in the claims file. The Veteran also testified he is in receipt of Social Security disability benefits and he has received treatment for mental health since the 1990s. On remand, the RO should attempt to obtain these records. Additionally, an addendum medical opinion should be obtained. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the claims file all VA treatment records, to include from the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa VA Medical Centers since 1993. *Records may be outstanding that do not appear in the Compensation and Pension Records Interchange (CAPRI) due to their age - search for available hardcopies. 2. Request that the Veteran complete authorizations for VA to obtain and associate all private treatment records, to include, but not limited to, Hillcrest Hospital. 3. Contact the Social Security Administration and obtain and associate any administrative decisions and all medical records used in adjudicating the Veteran's claim for disability benefits. 4. After the above development has been completed, obtain an addendum opinion for the Veteran's claimed acquired psychiatric disorder. Based on a full review of the record, to include the Veteran's lay statements regarding the incurrence and symptomatology of his disorder(s), please answer the following: (a) Identify all current acquired psychiatric disorders. (b) For each diagnosed disorder, please opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e., a 50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's currently diagnosed acquired psychiatric disorder had an onset during service, or is causally or etiologically related to his military service to include any of the reported in-service stressors? *The examiner is asked to specifically consider and discuss the Veteran's account of shooting and killing a Kuwait soldier and injuring an American soldier while deployed to Southwest Asia. All opinions should be supported by a clear rationale, and a discussion of the facts and medical principles involved would be of considerable assistance. (continued on next page) TANYA SMITH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Edwin B. Esmenda, 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.