BVA9508203 
DOCKET NO.  93-13 216     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg,
Florida

THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to an increased evaluation for anxiety reaction,
currently evaluated as 30 percent disabling.

2.  Entitlement to a temporary total rating pursuant to 38 C.F.R.
§ 4.29 from January 7, 1991, to May 2, 1994.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America,
Inc.

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Alice A. Booher, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active service from October 1947 to September
1949, and from March 1950 to May 1952.  The veteran is service
connected for a psychiatric disorder characterized as anxiety and
depressive reaction.  He has been in receipt of a schedular 30
percent rating since separation from his second period of
service.

This appeal is from a rating action by the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida, in
February 1991, which denied an increased rating for anxiety and
depressive reactions.  That same rating action noted that the
veteran was hospitalized by the VA in Seattle from August 31 to
September 28, 1989, following a stroke; at the time of the rating
action, records had not been received from that period of care
and the issue of entitlement to a temporary total rating during
that time was deferred pending receipt of those records.  In
light of the actions taken herein, the attention of the RO is
drawn thereto.

REMAND

Subsequent to transfer of this case from the RO to the Board, a
VA medical center discharge summary, dated from January 7, 1991,
to May 2, 1994, was received from the RO.  These records have not
been considered by the RO in adjudicating this claim.  Reference
is made to 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304(c) which requires that any
evidence submitted to the Board for consideration must be
referred to the originating agency for review and preparation of
a Supplemental Statement of the Case unless that procedural right
is waived by the appellant or unless the Board determines that
the benefit may be allowed without such referral.  Such waiver
must be in writing, or entered orally at a hearing on the record.

Although it appears that the veteran was in the custody of the VA
for the period from January 7, 1991, to May 2, 1994, the complete
records for that period have not been associated with the claims
folder.  During that period, he spent some time at the
Intermediate Nursing Care Unit at the Biloxi, Mississippi, VA
medical center.  Prior to that time, following an cerebrovascular
accident on August 31, 1989, he was a resident of the Seattle,
Washington, VA medical center.  Records from that facility are
not in the claims folder.

The veteran's representative alleges that the veteran's service-
connected psychiatric disorder is at least 70 percent disabling,
and renders him unemployable.  Since his discharge in May 1994,
the veteran has not been afforded a VA psychiatric examination.

The VA has a duty to assist the appellant in the development of
facts pertinent to the claim.  38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991).
This development includes acquiring all pertinent medical records
for inclusion with the claims folder.

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following actions:

1.  The RO should acquire copies of the
complete VA outpatient and inpatient
treatment records since August 30, 1989,
including records from the Seattle,
Washington, and Biloxi, Mississippi VA
medical centers, and these should be
associated with the claims folder.  If it
is found that he was confined at other
medical facilities during that time, those
records are to be obtained.

2.  The RO should then schedule the veteran
for a comprehensive VA psychiatric
examination to determine the exact nature
and extent of his current psychiatric
disability.  The study must be done in
accordance with the VA Physician's Guide
for Disability Evaluation Examinations.
All necessary testing should be
accomplished, including appropriate
psychological studies.  The claims file
including the records obtained pursuant to
(1) above, must be made available to the
examiner prior to the requested study.  The
examiner must review the records prior to
his examination of the veteran.  A Global
Assessment of Functioning Score consistent
with the American Psychiatric Association's
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for
Mental Disorders (3d ed. rev., 1987), must
be assigned and an explanation given as to
what the assigned score represents.  In
addition, the examiner must offer an
opinion as to the impact of the veteran's
psychiatric impairment on his social and
industrial abilities alone and in concert
with his current stroke residuals.  A
complete rationale for any and all opinions
offered must be provided.

The case should then be reviewed by the RO.  If the decision is
unsatisfactory to the veteran, a supplemental statement of the
case should be prepared, and the veteran and his representative
should be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond.
Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further
appellate review.

          RENÉE M. PELLETIER
          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).