BVA9500919 DOCKET NO. 93-07 271 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARINGS ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD M. F. Halsey, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from March 1961 to March 1964. This appeal of entitlement to service connection, as presently constituted, has progressed in a manner that warrants some prefatory explanation. A claim of service connection was first received from the veteran in September 1989. The RO, in a December 1989 rating decision, denied service connection for anxiety and panic attacks, and the veteran disagreed with this denial. An appeal received in March 1990 referred to agoraphobia, panic attacks, and PTSD. In March 1991, the Board denied service connection for "a psychiatric disability," referring the question of entitlement to service connection for PTSD to the RO for further development. The RO adjudicated the question of service connection for PTSD in July 1991, service connection was denied, and the veteran appealed. He also filed a notice of appeal of the March 1991 Board decision with the United States Court of Veterans Appeals (Court). In its July 1992 order, the Court noted that the veteran's appeal had been dismissed on August 14, 1991, at his request, but that on June 19, 1992, a letter was received from him that the Court construed as a "motion to reinstate" his appeal. VA was ordered to respond to the motion. In November 1992, the Court issued an order, finding that the claim of service connection for a psychiatric disability was "inextricably intertwined" with the claim of service connection for PTSD. Because the claim of service connection for PTSD had not been addressed by the Board in its 1991 decision, the Court found that the veteran had not exhausted his administrative remedies. It also concluded that there was no final Board decision from which the veteran could appeal. The PTSD claim was dismissed, and the motion to reinstate the appeal of service connection for the psychiatric disability was denied. In December 1993, the Board remanded the case to the RO to consider and develop the matter of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. The case is now before the Board for final appellate review. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends that he has psychiatric problems that can be attributed to his period of military service. He maintains that he first began to have psychiatric symptoms, particularly panic- type attacks, when his unit was called upon to prepare for possible conflict during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. He also has related several experiences during service that he believes affected him psychiatrically. He has identified panic attacks, agoraphobia, and PTSD as his primary problems due to his military service. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. Based on its review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the preponderance of the evidence is in favor of a claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, variously classified as an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, and PTSD. FINDING OF FACT The veteran has an acquired psychiatric disability, variously classified as an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, and PTSD that began as a result of military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, to include an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, and PTSD, was incurred as a result of active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1131, 1132, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The threshold question to be answered is whether a well-grounded claim has been presented. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 49 (1990). A well-grounded claim is defined as a "plausible claim, one which is meritorious on its own or capable of substantiation." Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78, 81 (1990). Section 5107 provides that the claimant's submission of a well-grounded claim gives rise to VA's duty to assist and to adjudicate the claim. In short, VA is not required to adjudicate a claim until after the veteran has met this initial burden of submitting a well-grounded one. "Although the claim need not be conclusive, the statute [§ 5107] provides that [the claim] must be accompanied by evidence" in order to be considered well-grounded. Tirpak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 609, 611 (1992). In a claim of service connection, this generally means that evidence must be presented which in some fashion links the claimed disability to a period of military service or to an already service-connected disability. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 1131 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.310 (1993); Rabideau v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 141, 143 (1992); Montgomery v. Brown, 4 Vet.App. 343 (1993). Evidence submitted in support of the claim is presumed to be true for purposes of determining whether the claim is well-grounded. King v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 19, 21 (1993). However, lay assertions of medical diagnosis or causation do not constitute competent evidence sufficient to render a claim well-grounded. Grottveit v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 91, 93 (1992); Espiritu v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 492, 495 (1992). In the veteran's case, medical evidence has been presented that he has developed an acquired psychiatric disability as a result of service. The veteran has testified about problems he experienced while riding a troop train from the state of Washington to Florida in anticipation of going to war. He said that he began to perspire profusely, had chest pain and nausea, and was shaking and experienced similar episodes on almost a daily basis, for which he sought treatment shortly after service. His mother has confirmed that he exhibited psychiatric symptoms in 1963, when he came home on a three-day pass. The veteran's testimony and his mother's statement are consistent with assessments made by the various medical examiners that he has developed psychopathology as a result of service. Some have classified the nature of the underlying problem as acute anxiety typically followed by depression and phobic behavior due to being put on alert and being moved to a base camp in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Other examiners have described the precipitating nature of the problem as PTSD. Regardless of how the psychopathology was classified, the common thread was the finding that the disability was due to service. Hence, service connection is granted for the variously classified psychiatric disability. ORDER Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, variously classified as an anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, and PTSD is granted. M. CHEEK 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. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.