Opinion ID: 217934
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Consideration of Other Stressors

Text: Roberts also argues that the Board erred in failing to consider additional stressors, such as the December 1969 shore patrol incident described above, before severing his benefits based on fraud. The Board rejected this argument, finding that: (1) no additional stressors were presented to the VA in Roberts’s initial claim of service connection for PTSD; (2) the May 1998 rating decision cited only the death of Gary Holland as a stressor; and (3) the March 1998 examination report on which the rating decision was based cited only Gary Holland’s death as a stressor. The Board also observed that “it appears that the veteran raised the purported additional stressors only after service connection for PTSD was granted and the veteran’s role in the Gary H. incident was being questioned, evidently in an effort to shore up a claim which was in the process of falling apart.” JA 931. The Veterans Court upheld the Board’s determination, noting that Roberts could pursue a separate claim based on any additional stressors, but that the Board here did not adjudicate a claim for service connection on stressors other than the one found to be fraudulent. Accordingly, it held that the Board was not required to consider other stressors “as part of the severance proceeding.” Roberts, 23 Vet.App. at 430, n.6. We agree with the Veterans Court. Roberts presented only one stressor as part of his initial claim, which the ROBERTS v. DVA 18 Board ultimately determined to be fraudulent. Under those circumstances, the Board did not err in severing Roberts’s benefits before considering other potential stressors. 8