BVA9506105 DOCKET NO. 92-08 746 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts THE ISSUE Entitlement to an increased rating for post-traumatic stress disorder with depression, currently rated as 30 percent disabling. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Alberto H. Zapata, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from November 1969 to November 1971. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Boston, Massachusetts. In October 1993, the Board remanded the veteran's case with instructions for the RO to consider a claim for service connection for alcoholism. The RO then denied the veteran's application to reopen a claim of service connection for alcoholism. The veteran has not appealed that determination. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends that his service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is more severe than currently rated. He states that his symptoms are so severe that he cannot sustain or retain employment. 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 does support a total schedular rating for PTSD. FINDING OF FACT The veteran's post-traumatic stress disorder is productive of total industrial impairment. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a 100 percent schedular evaluation for PTSD have been met. 38 U.S.C.A. § § 1155, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. Part 4, Diagnostic Code 9411 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION Initially, the Board notes that the veteran's claim for entitlement to an increased rating for his service-connected PTSD is well grounded under 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a); his claim is plausible and capable of substantiation. The Board is satisfied that all relevant facts have been properly developed and no further assistance to the veteran is required on order to comply with 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (a). In accordance with 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.2 (1993) and Schafrath v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 589 (1991), the Board has reviewed all evidence of record pertaining to the history of his service- connected disability, and has found nothing in the historical record that would lead to a conclusion that the current evidence of record is not adequate for rating purposes. Moreover, the Board is of the opinion that this case presents no evidentiary considerations that would warrant an exposition of the remote clinical histories and findings pertaining to the disability at issue. Disability ratings are determined by applying the criteria set forth in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (Rating Schedule), found in 38 C.F.R. Part 4 (1993). Under the schedular criteria, the evaluation of the veteran's service-connected PTSD with depression turns on the severity of his overall social and industrial impairment. A 50 percent rating is warranted where such impairment is of considerable severity; a 70 percent rating is warranted where such impairment is severe. A 100 percent evaluation is warranted if the disability is productive of virtual isolation in the community or profound retreat from mature behavior, or if it renders the veteran demonstrably unable to retain employment. 38 C.F.R. Part 4, Code 9411. A review of the record reveals that the veteran was admitted to the VA Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts on November 2, 1994. A six-week period of hospitalization was anticipated, but the discharge summary for this period of hospitalization was not obtained before the case was forwarded to the Board. Of record is a November 1994 treatment plan which the treating physician prepared following an assessment of the veteran's psychological disabilities. The relevant diagnosis from that report was one of PTSD with major depression and alcohol abuse in remission. Significantly, the examiner also noted that the veteran was unemployable. The February 1994 VA compensation and pension exam report indicates that the veteran had a diagnosis of chronic and severe PTSD with anxiety features. Also of record is evidence of multiple previous hospitalizations of the veteran for symptoms related to PTSD and depression. On more than one occasion the veteran was hospitalized for a period in excess of 21 days. Over the course of these hospitalizations, the veteran's therapy has included anti-convulsant and anti- depressive drug therapy. The veteran has been service connected for anxiety and symptoms related to PTSD since November 1971. Treatment records further indicate that the veteran's disability is productive of total industrial impairment. The Board notes that the February 1994 Social and Industrial Survey indicates that the veteran has not worked since December 1990. The sociologist also concluded that the veteran was substantially impaired in his ability to maintain effective or favorable relationships, and that his current symptoms were productive of severe industrial impairment. Furthermore, discharge summaries from May 1993 and June 1994 state that the veteran was unemployable. Given that the record indicates that the veteran's PTSD is productive of total social and industrial impairment, a 100 percent schedular evaluation for PTSD is warranted. 38 U.S.C.A. § § 1155, 5107; 38 C.F.R. Part 4, Diagnostic Code 9411. ORDER A 100 percent schedular evaluation for PTSD is granted, subject to the criteria governing the payment of monetary benefits. SHANE A. DURKIN 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.