BVA9501028 DOCKET NO. 93-04 443 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. D. Regan, Associate Counsel REMAND The veteran had active military service from February 1971 to February 1973. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (hereinafter "the Board") on appeal from an August 1992 rating decision of the Jackson, Mississippi Regional Office (hereinafter "the RO") which confirmed and continued a 10 percent disability evaluation for the veteran's service-connected post- traumatic stress disorder. In April 1993 the veteran, through his accredited representative, filed a motion for reconsideration of an August 1991 Board decision. In December 1994, the Board denied the motion for reconsideration. The veteran has been represented throughout this appeal by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. The veteran asserts on appeal that the RO erred in denying an increased evaluation for his service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. The accredited representative has requested that this case be remanded, in part, so that the veteran could be afforded a Department of Veterans Affairs (hereinafter "VA") psychiatric examination before a board of two psychiatrists. Further, the veteran has advanced contentions on appeal which the Board has construed as a claim for service connection for paranoid schizophrenia secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder and a request for a total rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability. The RO has neither developed nor certified these issues for our review on appeal. Additionally, the Board believes that resolution of the certified issue without prior consideration of the veteran's entitlement to service connection for schizophrenia would be contrary to the holding of the United States Court of Veterans Appeal (hereinafter "the Court") in Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 180 (1991) directing the avoidance of piecemeal review of the veterans' claims. The Board also notes that the veteran is apparently receiving disability compensation from the Social Security Administration. The documentation supporting such an award is not of record. The Board believes that these records would be helpful to a determination and should be obtained prior to the resolution of the issue on appeal. In light of the VA's duty to assist the veteran in the proper development of his claim as mandated by the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(b) (West 1991) and as interpreted by the United States Court of Veterans Appeals (hereinafter "the Court") in Littke v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 90, 92-93 (1990), this case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO should schedule the veteran for a VA psychiatric examination by a board of two psychiatrists in order to determine the present nature and severity of his service- connected post-traumatic stress disorder. The examiners should describe the impairing effects of the veteran's psychopathology upon his ordinary activities. A Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score should also be assigned. If a psychosis or neurosis is diagnosed in addition to post- traumatic stress disorder, the examiners are requested to render an opinion as to the etiology of such disorder and as to whether the impairment attributable to such disorder is susceptible to differentiation from the impairment due to the service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder. This study should be conducted in accordance with the Physicians Guide for Disability Evaluation Examinations. All indicated tests and studies should be accomplished and reported in detail. The claims folder should be made available to the examiner for review prior to the examination. 2. The RO should contact the Social Security Administration and request that it provide any medical records developed in association with an award of disability benefits. Upon receipt of the requested information, it should be incorporated into the record. 3. The RO should then formally adjudicate the veteran's entitlement to service connection for schizophrenia as secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder and the veteran's entitlement to a total rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability. When the requested action has been completed, and if his claim continues to be denied, the veteran should be afforded a reasonable period of time in which to respond to a supplemental statement of the case. Thereafter, subject to current appellate procedures, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration if appropriate. The veteran need not take any action unless he is further informed. The purpose of this REMAND is to allow for further develop-ment of the record. No inference should be drawn from it regarding the final disposition of the veteran's claim. EDWARD W. SEERY 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) (1993).