Amos E. Peyton, Appellant, v. Edward J. Derwinski, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Appellee

1 Vet App 2821 Vet. App. 282; 1991 US Vet App LEXIS 341991 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 34

No. 90-613

May 30, 1991, Decided

PURSUANT TO 38 U.S.C. § 4067(d) (1988), THIS DECISION WILL BECOME THE DECISION OF THE COURT THIRTY DAYS FROM THE DATE HEREOF.

UNITED STATES COURT OF VETERANS APPEALS

Farley, Mankin, and Steinberg, Associate Judges.

Disposition                          

VACATED AND REMANDED.

Counsel                 Joseph A. Violante was on the brief for appellant.

                                Raoul L. Carroll, General Counsel, Barry M. Tapp, Assistant General Counsel, Andrew J. Mullen, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and John McNamee-Alemany were on the brief for appellee.

Opinion

Editorial Information: Prior History

On Appeal from the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Opinion by:                           STEINBERG

{1 Vet. App. 283} This case comes to us on an appeal from a March 15, 1990, Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA or Board) decision reducing the appellant veteran's disability compensation rating from 70 to 50 percent for his service-connected psychiatric disability. We vacate the Board's decision and remand for readjudication with specific findings and conclusions regarding all applicable issues and regulations as well as a statement of reasons or bases pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 4004 (d)(1) (1988) and our decision in Gilbert v. Derwinski, U.S. Vet. App. No. 89-53 (Oct. 12, 1990).

I. Background

At the outset, we note that the Court is hampered both in reviewing this case and in preparing this opinion by the inadequacy of the record on appeal. Despite a January 16, 1991, order of this Court that the Secretary supplement the record on appeal with copies of all rating decisions in appellant's case prior to November 9, 1988, the record and supplemental record do not contain the 1983 rating decision which apparently awarded appellant a 100-percent rating, nor a November 4, 1985, rating decision, which is referred to in a September 5, 1986, rating decision as being "incorporated herein by reference." Supp. R. at 3. In addition, the record contains no medical history for the appellant prior to 1983; specifically lacking is his entire 12-year service medical record and reports of his 1978 discharge examination and 1978 or 1979 medical examinations by the Veterans' Administration (now the Department of Veterans Affairs) (VA), shortly after his discharge from service. Despite the inadequacy of the record, we are able to decide the case on the grounds of an insufficient BVA decision.