BVA9505432 DOCKET NO. 93-15 543 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Buffalo, New York THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased rating for post-traumatic stress disorder, currently rated 30 percent disabling. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Mark J. Swiatek, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active duty during the Vietnam era. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a March 1991 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Buffalo, New York. The veteran contends, in essence, that he is totally disabled due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. The veteran's representative has raised the issue of entitlement to service connection for residuals of a gunshot would of the left lower extremity. This matter has previously been denied by the RO and has not been developed for review in connection with the current appeal. The matter is referred to the RO for action deemed appropriate. REMAND With respect to an increased rating for PTSD, the Board observes that the most recent VA psychiatric examination of December 1992 provides very little data concerning the effects of the PTSD on the veteran's initiative, efficiency and reliability levels. Additionally, previous medical evidence, including statements from VA staff personnel, clearly indicate a worsening of the PTSD symptoms. The Board further notes that in April 1991, the veteran completed an application for VA vocational rehabilitation benefits. However, the record of any assessment for training feasibility conducted pursuant to his application is not on file In view of the foregoing, and to ensure that the VA has met its duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent to the claim and to ensure full compliance with due process requirements, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following development: 1. The veteran should be contacted and asked to clarify his current employment status, specifying the amount of time he has lost from work in the recent past due to his service- connected disability. He should also be requested to identify all sources of recent treatment for his service-connected psychiatric disability. With any necessary authorization from the veteran, the RO should attempt to obtain copies of all indicated records which have not been previously secured. 2. The RO should obtain the veteran's complete VA vocational rehabilitation file and associate it with the claims folder. 3. Following completion of the above development, the veteran should be accorded a VA psychiatric examination to determine the severity of the PTSD. The claims folder must be made available to the examiner prior to the evaluation so that the examiner may review the pertinent historical data contained therein in order to obtain an accurate picture of the progress of the veteran's psychiatric disorder. The examination should be comprehensive enough to determine the nature and extent of all psychiatric symptoms. The psychiatrist should utilize any psychological testing deemed pertinent in making a complete diagnostic evaluation and in differentiating the PTSD symptoms from those attributable to other conditions. Based upon a review of the record and the examination, the physician should provide a Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale code and discuss the meaning of the GAF scale code assigned. In addition, the examiner should also discuss the impairment of the veteran's ability to establish and maintain relationships as well as the reduction in initiative, efficiency and reliability levels which may be attributable to the PTSD (as distinct from impairment attributable to other conditions). Finally, the examiner should provide an opinion regarding the role that PTSD played in the self-inflicted gunshot wound of November 1990. 4. When the above development has been completed the RO should readjudicate the veteran's claim, to include unemployability. The rating should reflect consideration of the applicability of the provisions of 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.321(b)(1), 4.16(b), or 4.16(c), whichever is applicable. If any benefit sought on appeal is not granted to the veteran's satisfaction, a supplemental statement of the case addressing all issues in appellate status should be prepared and furnished to the veteran and his representative. They should be provided the applicable period in which to respond. Thereafter, in accordance with the proper appellate procedures, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate review, if otherwise in order. In taking this action, the Board implies no conclusion, either legal or factual, as to any final outcome warranted. No action is required of the veteran until he is otherwise notified by the RO. CHARLES E. HOGEBOOM 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 deter- mination. 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 action has been taken in accordance with the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 303, 108 Stat. 4645, (1994) and is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 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).