Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2005

The Board found no current diagnosis of a back disorder and denied the claim for service connection. For schizophrenia, the Board noted that the veteran's disability picture more nearly approximates total occupational and social impairment with symptoms such as grossly inappropriate behavior, intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, disorientation to time or place, memory loss, and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score of 30. The claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 70 percent for schizophrenia was denied.

The Board found that the veteran's claimed conditions are not related to his active service, including exposure to Agent Orange. Service connection was denied for all issues.

The Board has granted an earlier effective date of February 1, 1994 for the grant of service connection for a psychiatric disorder, variously diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with psychotic features.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining all outstanding VA treatment records and readjudicating the claim based on all evidence of record.

The Board found that the veteran's psychiatric disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by active military service and denied his claim.

The Board found that the veteran's schizophrenia was aggravated by active military service.

The veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including obtaining VA treatment records and ensuring compliance with the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000.

The Board has determined that additional development, including obtaining personnel records and investigating the alleged assault by a Master Sergeant, is necessary to properly adjudicate the veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current acquired psychiatric disability is service-connected, with no specific rating assigned and without an effective date provided.

The veteran's claim of CUE in an October 1996 rating decision was dismissed without prejudice to refiling.

The Board has determined that the veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, was not incurred in or aggravated by active service.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that the veteran did not have a psychosis during his military service and that medical evidence did not etiologically link the current condition to his military service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining medical records and conducting examinations to determine the cause of any disabilities resulting from treatment at a VA facility in Boston, Massachusetts in July 1992.

The Board has determined that the veteran's PTSD warrants a 100 percent evaluation from August 1, 1996, due to total occupational and social impairment.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete service records and will consider the claim again after obtaining any additional relevant medical or personnel records.

The Board denied the reopening of a claim for service connection for chronic paranoid schizophrenia, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of a psychiatric disability was denied as there was no clear and unmistakable error in the October 1989 rating decision, which became final due to his failure to file a timely appeal. The RO considered the veteran's in-service diagnoses but did not find them sufficient to grant service connection.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD due to service and a current skin disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to missing Social Security Administration records and other potential need for additional evidence.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable disability rating for his scar of the right cheek and service connection for his neuropsychiatric disorder, finding that neither condition warranted a higher rating under VA regulations.