## Facts

- Thomas P. Chotta served in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945 and was diagnosed shortly after service with a psychiatric condition described as psychoneurosis/anxiety.
- VA denied service connection in 1946 and again in 1947.
- Decades later, Chotta sought benefits for a “nervous condition” later characterized as PTSD; after litigation, VA agreed to grant service connection for PTSD effective from 1947.
- VA assigned a 50% rating from 1947 to January 20, 1999, and a 70% rating from January 20, 1999, forward.
- In denying a higher rating for 1947–1999, the Board relied in part on the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence documenting PTSD during that period, despite lay statements describing longstanding symptoms.

## Issues

1. What are the parameters of VA’s duty to assist under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A when assigning a disability rating for a remote period after revising a previously final denial of service connection?
2. When contemporaneous medical evidence for the rating period is sparse, must VA consider lay evidence and determine whether a retrospective medical opinion is necessary to decide the claim?
3. Whether the Board erred by treating the absence of contemporaneous medical records as dispositive and failing to provide adequate reasons or bases regarding further development.

## Decision

- The Court withdrew a prior single-judge affirmance, vacated the Board’s decision denying a rating above 50% for the period before January 20, 1999, and remanded.
- The Court held that, depending on the facts, the duty to assist may require VA to obtain a retrospective medical opinion to assess the severity of a disability during an earlier period.
- The Court directed the Board to reassess the claim considering available medical evidence, lay testimony, and whether additional development (including a retrospective opinion) was reasonably necessary.

## Legal Principles

- Under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A, VA must assist in obtaining and developing relevant evidence needed to decide the claim; assistance is not limited to contemporaneous records from the period being rated.
- When rating a disability for a remote period with limited contemporaneous medical documentation, VA may need a retrospective medical evaluation if such an opinion could help determine the past level of disability based on the record.
- Lay evidence concerning observable symptoms during the rating period must be considered and weighed; the absence of contemporaneous medical evidence cannot be treated as automatically controlling.
- The Board must provide adequate reasons or bases for its determination, including its decision whether further medical development is necessary to decide the proper rating for the earlier period.

## Conclusion

The Court required the Board to reconsider a decades-old PTSD rating period under the duty to assist, including analysis of lay evidence and whether a retrospective medical opinion was needed, because the Board could not deny a higher rating solely due to missing contemporaneous medical records.


Chotta v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 80 (2008)