Citation Nr: 21041325
Decision Date: 07/08/21	Archive Date: 07/08/21

DOCKET NO. 16-63 377
DATE: July 8, 2021

REMANDED

 Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include generalized anxiety disorder and depression, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from November 1987 to November 1991.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2016 rating decision issued by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

This matter was previously remanded by the Board in November 2018 for further development. The matter has now been returned to the Board for appellate consideration.

Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder.

When this matter was last before the Board in November 2018, it was remanded so that the RO could verify the Veteran's reported in-service stressor of his shipmate's death aboard USS JUNEAU (LPD-10) in March 1991 using information the Veteran provided in his April 2016 VA Form 21-0781. However, the claims file shows that the RO has not made any efforts to verify this information since the November 2018 remand. The Board notes that an etiological opinion was obtained in which the examiner appears to have assumed that the alleged stressor occurred, but provided a negative opinion. 

However, ultimately the remand directives still directed that attempts be made to verify the Veteran's reported stressors, which did not occur. The Board must ensure compliance with the terms of its prior remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998) (a remand confers on the veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand orders). In the present case, the Board finds that there has not been substantial compliance with the directives of the November 2018 remand. Therefore, another remand is required in order to verify the Veteran's reported in-service stressor.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Undertake appropriate development, pursuant to relevant VA procedures, with any and all appropriate military repositories to corroborate the Veteran's reported in-service stressor.

The RO is asked to refer all relevant evidence to any and all appropriate military repositories, to include military personnel records and evidence submitted by the Veteran (including the Veteran's April 2016 VA Form 21-0781, Statement in Support of Claim for PTSD) to assist in their search.

All requests and responses received should be associated with the claims file and a summary of the findings in this regard should be provided in a memorandum associated with the file. If such verification is not possible, it should be so certified for the record (along with a description of the extent of the verification conducted).

2. After completing the above development, and any other development deemed necessary, readjudicate the issue on appeal. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, provide an additional supplemental statement of the case to the Veteran and his representative, and return the appeal to the Board for appellate review, after the Veteran and his representative have had an adequate opportunity to respond.

 

 

CHRISTOPHER A. WENDELL

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	E. Fairlie, 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.