Citation Nr: 21025446
Decision Date: 04/28/21	Archive Date: 04/28/21

DOCKET NO. 17-34 876
DATE: April 28, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 50 percent for service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. 

Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1965 to July 1971. 

The matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

The Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in October 2020. The hearing transcript is of record. 

1. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 50 percent for service-connected PTSD is remanded.

2. Entitlement to a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities is remanded.

Appellants are entitled to initial review by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) of evidence added to the claims file by VA, and waiver of such review may not be presumed. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.1305. Here, since the May 2018 supplemental statement of case (SSOC), additional VA medical records have been added to claims file, to include treatment records regarding the Veteran’s psychological state. This evidence has not yet been addressed in either a rating decision or a supplemental statement of case (SSOC). A letter was sent to the Veteran offering the option to a waiver of initial AOJ consideration. 

In a February 2021 correspondence, the Veteran requested remand to the AOJ for review of the additional evidence. Accordingly, the Veteran’s claim for an increased rating for PTSD must be remanded so that an SSOC may be issued that considers the additional VA-generated evidence.

Moreover, as the Veteran’s claim for TDIU is inextricably intertwined with his claim for an increased rating for PTSD, the TDIU issue is also remanded. See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991) (where a claim is inextricably intertwined with another claim, the claims must be adjudicated together).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain updated VA treatment records.

 

2. The Veteran’s claims should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. If the benefits sought on appeal are not granted, the Veteran and his representative should be provided a SSOC and afforded the requisite opportunity to respond.

 

 

Nathaniel J. Doan

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Minaya, 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.