Anxiety decisions — 2024

The Veteran's claim for service connection for coronary artery disease is granted due to presumed exposure to herbicides. The claims for service connection of unspecified depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD are remanded as the VA examination opinions were inadequate. Other claims for service connection are also remanded.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood is related to service, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the claim.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete STRs and a duty to assist error. The issues include obesity, increased appetite, heat intolerance, arthritis, abdominal condition, nervous condition (including tremors and nervousness), hypertension, acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, depression, anxiety and insomnia), diabetes mellitus, heart condition (including tachycardia), and gynecological condition (including menstrual irregularities).

The Veteran's cause of death, multiple prescription drug overdose, is being remanded for further development due to the need for a retrospective opinion on whether it was proximately due or caused by his service-connected psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 50 percent, but no higher. The finger injury claim was denied. Other service connection claims were also denied.

The Board has granted effective dates of April 19, 2019 for the grants of higher ratings for bilateral lower extremity muscle weakness, a higher rating for right upper extremity muscle weakness, service connection for chronic constipation, service connection for hoarseness associated with multiple sclerosis, service connection for multiple sclerosis with adjustment disorder, mixed anxiety, and depressed mood, and service connection for voiding dysfunction associated with multiple sclerosis.

The appeal as to entitlement to service connection for an anxiety disorder is dismissed. The Veteran's right shoulder disability and related conditions are granted, but the rating for the right shoulder disability remains remanded.

The Veteran is denied an effective date prior to January 27, 2020 for the award of service connection for PTSD and related psychiatric conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded due to the inadequacy of the VA medical opinion provided in November 2018. The case will be returned for an appropriate VA examination and further analysis.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for service-connected obstructive sleep apnea and anxiety disorder were denied. The effective dates for the grants of TDIU and DEA based on permanent and total disability status are granted.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for posttraumatic stress disorder with traumatic brain injury, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder from March 13, 2021, and entitlement to special monthly compensation based on housebound criteria are dismissed. The appeal for an effective date earlier than September 14, 2015, for the award of Dependents' Educational Assistance is denied.

The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection and rating issues, including anxiety with PTSD and depression, cervical spine disability, right hip disability, left hip disability, left knee disability, and a proposed reduction in the evaluation of low back pain.

The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate opinion regarding whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder, is secondary to his service-connected impairment of rectal sphincter control. The Veteran needs a new medical opinion addressing this issue.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea was dismissed. The Veteran's adjustment disorder with anxiety and depression is now rated at 30 percent.

The Veteran's adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood symptoms more closely approximated the 70 percent rating criteria, which was granted for the entire period on appeal.

The Board has remanded the claims for an effective date earlier than June 1, 2021, for the grant of service connection for PTSD with schizoaffective disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder and Dependents' Educational Assistance due to a procedural error in obtaining a complete record of the Veteran's correction, change or modification of a military record (such as a character of discharge upgrade).

The Veteran's prostate cancer, thyroid condition, hypertension, right hip arthritis, sleep apnea, depression, anxiety, and insomnia disabilities are denied as not related to service.,The Veteran's lumbago with arthritis disability is remanded for further examination.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder were denied as there is no evidence of current disabilities or in-service incurrence, and the Board found that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for knee disorder, manifested by weakness and left shoulder disorder, manifested by loss of motion. The Board has also remanded the issues of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (including anxiety, depression, and PTSD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than October 25, 2019 for the grant of service connection and a higher initial rating for his adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood was denied. The Board found that no claim for these benefits had been submitted prior to October 25, 2019.