Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2002

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder, finding that there was no current diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and insufficient evidence linking any current disability to service.

The Board found no competent medical evidence linking the appellant's current psychiatric disabilities to his period of active service.

The Board found that the veteran's current psychiatric disorder, including schizophrenia, began years after service and was not caused by any incident of service. The claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is denied.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 100 percent rating for schizophrenia was denied by the Board.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD, and right knee disorder are not service-connected.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including alcoholism and a psychiatric disorder. The skin rash, optic atrophy of the left eye with vision loss and diplopia, pansinusitis with nasal polyps, traumatic nasal septal deviation, damage to the fifth and seventh cranial nerves, seizure disorder, headaches, chronic prostatitis, prostate and urinary infections, urinary tract blockage and non-specific urethritis, epididymal cyst of the right testis, and venereal disease were not found to be related to service or any service-connected disability.

The Board denied entitlement to benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for various conditions resulting from VA treatment, and the veteran's claims were not reopened or granted effective dates prior to August 26, 1991.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for sinusitis, a psychiatric disorder, and impotence. The claim for an increased rating for arterial hypertension was also denied.

The Board has granted service connection for chronic paranoid schizophrenia and assigned a 70 percent disability evaluation, effective January 25, 1996. The veteran's claim to reopen his previous denial of service connection for schizoaffective schizophrenia is also granted.

The Board is considering whether the claimant's personality disorder, diagnosed as latent schizophrenia, qualifies for service connection due to new evidence. The decision is mixed because some issues are granted and others are not.

The Board found that the veteran did not develop chronic disabilities as a result of service and denied all claims. The appeals for reopening previously denied claims were also denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for a psychiatric disorder, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted.

The Board has granted service connection for schizophrenia and found that the veteran's current condition may be presumed to have been incurred in service. The issue of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability is remanded due to a change in combined ratings.

The Board found that the veteran's preexisting psychiatric condition did not undergo any increase in severity during his active service and denied both claims.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder and a skin disorder, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including PTSD, headaches, a cervical spine disorder, and left leg and right eye disorders. The decision found that new evidence did not reopen the claim for a psychiatric condition (other than PTSD), and that none of the other conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, which was previously denied in 1988.

The Board has remanded the case to the RO for further development of the evidence and due process development.

The Board has restored the veteran's total (100 percent) evaluation for paranoid schizophrenia, effective from November 1, 2001. The evidence showed that the veteran had been unemployed since the 1970s and did not show material improvement in his condition at the time of the reduction decision.

The veteran's claims for an annual clothing allowance and increased rating for schizophrenia are being remanded to the RO for further development, including scheduling a hearing before the Board.