Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2001

The Board has determined that the veteran's current psychiatric disorder is related to his service, and thus grants entitlement to service connection.

The Board has determined that the veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, bilateral tinnitus, lung disability, and stomach disability are all service-connected.

The veteran's schizophrenia, undifferentiated type is currently rated at 50% and has been found to warrant a higher rating of 100%. The VA Board determined that the symptoms described by the veteran meet the criteria for total occupational and social impairment.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 100% evaluation of schizophrenia was granted, effective October 19, 2000.

The Board has granted the veteran's claims for increased ratings for migraine headaches and homonymous hemianopsia, right, with macular sparing and intermittent exotropia. The veteran is also found to be unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities and thus entitled to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability. However, there are no findings regarding automobile or adaptive equipment allowance.

The Board has vacated the previous decision and is now considering the case de novo. The veteran's post-service psychiatric disability was not incurred in service.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral defective hearing and a right shoulder disability, prevent him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.

The Board has vacated its October 1998 decision and remanded the case to develop and readjudicate the neck, left hip, and ulcer claims in light of recent legislation. The back and psychiatric claims are deemed intertwined with the neck claim.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for schizophrenia, finding that there was no direct evidence linking his current diagnosis to his military service.

The Board denied service connection for a personality disorder and an acquired psychiatric disorder, as well as the claim for a compensable rating for residuals of fracture of the right ankle.

The Board found that the RO improperly reduced the evaluations assigned to the veteran's PTSD from 100 percent to 70 percent, effective January 1, 1999, and from 70 percent to 50 percent, effective September 1, 1999.

The Board has granted a rating of 70 percent for the service-connected schizophrenic reaction, schizo-affective type due to occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas such as work, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for an acquired psychiatric disorder, personality disorders, and substance abuse due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Board determined that the veteran does not currently have an acquired psychiatric disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder. The Board also found no evidence of a service connection for such disorders.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as PTSD. The veteran's condition is now considered a chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

The Board has determined that the veteran's gastro-esophageal reflux disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome and numbness in hands and arms, sleep disturbance (not due to psychiatric disability), headaches, and poor appetite and weight loss are all service-connected based on their association with undiagnosed illness experienced during her service in the Gulf War theater.

The Board denied the appellant's request for an earlier effective date of September 1997 for her award of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits under the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318, finding no basis to grant such a request.

The Board denied service connection for schizophrenia and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Board denied service connection and increased evaluations for the veteran's claimed conditions, including degenerative arthritis of the spine and hips, a psychiatric disability, and residuals of a fractured skull. The decision found no clear and unmistakable error in these determinations.

The appellant's active military service was not sufficient to establish basic eligibility for non-service-connected VA disability pension benefits due to the lack of at least 90 days of wartime service. The Board found no evidence that he had a pre-existing psychiatric disability prior to service or that his current psychiatric disability is related to service.