Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2000

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as depression, and assigned a compensable initial rating of 10% for residuals of the right ankle fracture.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a psychiatric disorder, finding that his current condition is not related to his in-service symptoms and failing to meet the well-grounded claim requirement.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has determined that the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is denied as there is no competent medical evidence showing a current disability and no link between any diagnosed condition and service.

The Board has granted service connection for the veteran's psychiatric disability secondary to his service-connected herniated nucleus pulposus at the L5-S1 level. The initial 20 percent evaluation for the low back disability remains unchanged, while a 40 percent evaluation is assigned from April 1, 1991.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for service connection for a skin disorder and an acquired psychiatric disorder, but finds that these claims are not well-grounded as there is no medical evidence linking current conditions to active military service.

The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for schizophrenia and granted it as the evidence shows that the veteran's schizophrenia was manifest within a year of his separation from active duty.

The Board has denied both claims for service connection for schizophrenia and frostbite of the extremities as they are not well grounded.

The Board denied service connection for psychiatric and back disorders, as well as a groin condition. The claims for skin and hematoma of the left tibia were not well-grounded.

The veteran's seizure disorder is due to disease or injury that was incurred in service. The Board finds the veteran's claim of service connection for a psychiatric disorder plausible and capable of substantiation, but cannot determine if his pre-existing condition worsened during service.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for schizophrenia, paranoid type as his claim is not well grounded.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an effective date prior to February 23, 1996 for assignment of a 30 percent rating for his psychiatric disorder.

The Board found no competent medical evidence to support the veteran's claim of service connection for a psychiatric disability, including PTSD. The veteran was diagnosed with dementia due to Parkinson's disease and other conditions.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly evaluate the appellant's claim for a total disability rating for nonservice-connected pension purposes, including consideration of his extraschedular entitlement. The case will be remanded to the RO for further action.

The Board has remanded the case for further proceedings, including a psychiatric examination to determine if current PTSD symptoms are linked to an inservice stressor and whether any other Axis I disorder found is related to PTSD.

The Board found that the veteran did not have a current diagnosis of PTSD and his claims were not supported by objective evidence. Therefore, the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder was denied.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, requires further development due to inconsistencies in the evidence and need for clarification of stressor events.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claim of service connection for a psychiatric disorder is well grounded. The opinion from Dr. Angelo supports the claim, and the RO will conduct further examination to provide an adequate basis for granting service connection.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for PTSD, gastrointestinal disorder, and arthritis of the spine are not well-grounded. The claim for PTSD is well-grounded as there is evidence supporting a diagnosis of PTSD related to service. However, the other conditions were denied due to lack of support from service records or credible stressor corroboration.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for his increased evaluation and total rating based on individual unemployability due to schizophrenia. The evidence did not show that the severity of his condition or his ability to work had changed prior to August 14, 1995.

The veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and a chronic acquired psychiatric disability to include schizophrenia are being remanded for additional development.