BVA9507486 DOCKET NO. 91-45 729 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville, Tennessee THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability on a secondary basis. 2. Entitlement to an increased rating for residuals of a fracture of the calcaneus of the right foot with traumatic arthritis, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. 3. Entitlement to a total rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disability. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Milo H. Hawley, Counsel REMAND The veteran had active service from September 1963 to September 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from August 1990 and January 1993 decisions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Nashville, Tennessee (RO), which denied service connection for a low back disability on a secondary basis and an increased rating for disability of the right foot, and a total rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disability, respectively. When the veteran initiated his appeal from the August 1990 rating decision, the issue of entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder was also appealed. Following the Board's remand in May 1992, service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder was granted, and the veteran filed a claim for a total rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disability. In January 1994 the Board again remanded the appeal so that the issue of a total rating could be developed for appellate review. Subsequent to the remand, the veteran's representative has requested that service connection for alcoholism secondary to the veteran's post-traumatic stress disorder be granted. The representative has also requested that the veteran be afforded additional examinations. The veteran has indicated that he has been found to be disabled by the Social Security Administration. The issue of entitlement to service connection for alcoholism secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder is inextricably intertwined with the issue of entitlement to a total rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disability, and must be adjudicated prior to the Board reaching a determination with respect to the total rating. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following: 1. The RO should contact the veteran and inquire as to where he has been receiving health care from February 1991 until the present. The RO should contact the health care provider(s) identified, including the Nolachuckey-Holston Area Mental Health Center, Inc., and request copies of all records relating to treatment of the veteran from February 1991 until the present. 2. The RO should contact the Social Security Administration and request copies of all medical and administrative records relating to a determination regarding whether the veteran is disabled. 3. The RO should schedule the veteran for VA psychiatric and orthopedic examinations to determine the nature and extent of his right foot and low back disabilities, and his post-traumatic stress disorder. The examinations must be conducted in accordance with the VA Physician's Guide for Disability Evaluation Examinations. All indicated tests, including appropriate psychological studies with applicable subscales, must be conducted. The claims file must be made available to and reviewed by the examiners prior to the requested examinations. The psychiatric examiner must assign a Global Assessment of Functioning Score consistent with the American Psychiatric Association's DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL FOR MENTAL DISORDERS (3d ed. rev., 1987), and explain what the assigned score represents. The psychiatric examiner should comment as to the relationship, if any, between the service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. The orthopedic examiner should comment as to the relationship, if any, between the veteran's service-connected right foot disability and any identified low back disability. A complete rationale for any opinion expressed must be provided. 4. Following completion of the foregoing, the RO must review the claims folder and ensure that all of the foregoing development actions have been conducted and completed in full. If any development is incomplete, including if the requested examinations do not include all test reports, special studies, or opinions requested, appropriate corrective action is to be implemented. After completion of the above requested development, the RO should adjudicate the issue of alcoholism secondary to post- traumatic stress disorder. If any issue remains denied, the veteran and his representative should be furnished with a supplemental statement of the case and be given the appropriate opportunity to respond thereto. Thereafter, the claims file, including the above requested evidence, should be returned to this Board for further appellate review, if in order. No action is required by the veteran until he receives further notice. The purposes of this REMAND are to procure clarifying data and accord due process. The Board intimates no opinion, either legal or factual, as to the ultimate disposition of this appeal. JEFF MARTIN Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).