Citation Nr: 21041176 Decision Date: 07/08/21 Archive Date: 07/08/21 DOCKET NO. 16-29 867 DATE: July 8, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent prior to April 17, 2021 and in excess of 50 percent from that date for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from June 2007 to November 2013. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a January 2015 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision. In April 2020, a videoconference hearing was held before the undersigned; a transcript is in the record. In December 2020, this matter was remanded for additional development. An April 2021 rating decision awarded an increased (to 50 percent) rating for PTSD, effective April 17, 2021. The December 2020 Board remand ordered the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) to obtain all outstanding VA and private treatment records (that the Veteran identifies) and then to arrange for a fully adequate VA examination to assess the severity of his PTSD. The AOJ made a single attempt in December 2020 to send the Veteran correspondence asking him to identify the providers of private treatment he has received for PTSD (to which he did not reply); the record also shows that the AOJ did not obtain any outstanding VA treatment records (or confirm that none exist). On April 2021 VA examination, the Veteran reported he has received counseling for PTSD at a VA clinic since he was last examined in 2015. As records of all treatment the Veteran received for psychiatric disability are pertinent evidence in this matter, any such record outstanding must be sought, and secured for the record The Veteran is reminded that under 38 C.F.R. § 3.158 (a), where evidence requested in connection with a claim for VA benefits is not received within a year following the request, the claim will [emphasis added] be considered abandoned. The duty to assist is not a one-way street; a veteran may not passively wait for assistance when his cooperation is needed for evidentiary development critical to a claim for VA benefits. See Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 190, 193 (1991). If he does not respond to an inquiry seeking identification and authorization for VA to obtain records of any private treatment he may have received, it will be assumed that either no such records exist or that any existing do not support his claim. The matter is REMANDED for the following: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify the providers of all evaluations and treatment he has received for PTSD (records of which remain outstanding), and to submit authorizations for VA to secure for the record all outstanding, updated to the present, records of the private evaluations and treatment identified. Secure for the record complete (all outstanding) clinical records of the evaluations and treatment from all providers identified. If any private records identified are not received pursuant to VA's request, the Veteran should be so notified and advised that ultimately it is his responsibility to ensure that private medical records are received Specifically secure any outstanding records of all VA treatment he received for PTSD ( considering his report that he received VA treatment, if there are none, it should be so stated for the record, with the scope of the search for VA treatment records described). 2. Review any records received pursuant to the development sought above, and arrange for any further development suggested by information found in those records. GEORGE R. SENYK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Naumovich, 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.