Citation Nr: 21024660 Decision Date: 04/23/21 Archive Date: 04/23/21 DOCKET NO. 16-06 531 DATE: April 23, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on unemployability (TDIU) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from July 1969 to March 1971. An April 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) denied the Veteran’s claim for increased rating. The Veteran timely appealed. This matter previously came before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) in September 2019 where the Board denied the Veteran’s claim. The Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2020 the Veteran’s representative and the VA General Counsel filed a joint motion for remand (JMR) as the parties agreed the Board erred by not ensuring that the duty to assist was met. Accordingly, the JMR sought to vacate and remand the Board’s September 2019 decision and to obtain a VA examination evaluating the current severity of the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD. The Court granted the JMR in August 2020, vacating the Board’s September 2019 decision that denied entitlement to a rating in excess of 70 percent for service-connected PTSD. The matter has returned to the Board for further adjudication. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD is remanded. The Board finds that additional action is required prior to appellate review of the Veteran’s claim for a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD. Consistent with the JMR, a new VA examination is needed that addresses the current severity of the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD. 2. Entitlement to TDIU is remanded In the August 2020 JMR, the parties noted that the issue of entitlement to total disability rating due to individual unemployment (TDIU) is part and parcel with the increased rating claim for PTSD. See Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447, 453-54 (2009) (TDIU is a component of any claim involving the assignment of a disability rating, whether expressly raised by the Veteran or reasonably raised by the record). The JMR required the Board to address the argument on remand and provide an adequate statement of reasons or bases for its determination. The Board finds that the claim for TDIU is inextricably intertwined with the issue of entitlement to an increased rating for PTSD, which is being remanded herein. As any allowance of the claim for increase remanded herein could affect the outcome of the TDIU claim, the appropriate remedy for inextricably intertwined issues is to remand them pending resolution of the inextricably intertwined issues. Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his PTSD. The entire claims file, to include a complete copy of this remand, must be made available to, and reviewed by, the designated examiner. The examiner must provide a full description of the Veteran’s PTSD and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating PTSD under the rating criteria. The examiner must specifically comment on the functional effects of the disability. Caroline B. Fleming Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M.N. Bush, 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.