Citation Nr: 21029178
Decision Date: 05/12/21	Archive Date: 05/12/21

DOCKET NO. 16-13 652
DATE: May 12, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to an effective date prior to February 28, 2012, for the award of a 70 percent rating for panic disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served in active service in the United States Army from November 1966 to November 1968. 

This appeal is from a September 2013 rating decision.  In October 2018, the Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of a 70 percent rating for panic disorder and MDD.  The Veteran appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), which, in an August 2019 Order, vacated the Board's October 2018 decision and remanded the claim back to the Board pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR). In a February 2020 decision, the Board assigned an effective date of February 28, 2012 for the 70 percent rating.  The Veteran again appealed to the Court and in a January 2021 Order, the Court vacated the February 2020 Board decision and remanded the matter for action consistent with the terms of a JMR.

In the January 2021 JMR, the Court found that remand is in order to correct a duty to assist error regarding missing medical records. Specifically, the Court found that VA failed to make attempts to obtain records from group therapy sessions noted in the record. Therefore, remand is in order to correct this duty to assist error.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

Ask the Veteran to identify all outstanding treatment records relevant to the claims on appeal and submit or authorize VA to obtain the identified medical records, to include records from any and all group therapy sessions as noted in the Veteran's February 2012 VA examination. All efforts to obtain these records must be documented in the file. The RO should make two attempts to obtain these records once authorization is obtained, unless the first attempt reveals that further attempts would be futile. If no records are obtained, the RO should notify the Veteran of the records that could not be obtained, notify the Veteran of the steps taken to obtain the records, and notify the Veteran he may submit any such records in his possession.

 

 

JOHN Z. JONES

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Jorge Barroso, 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.