Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2009

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining medical records from SSA and Navy personnel files. The Veteran's service connection claim will be reconsidered based on the new evidence.

The Veteran's left knee disability, including arthritis and instability, warrants a 10 percent rating. Service connection for an acquired dysthymic disorder is granted, while service connection for paranoid personality disorder is denied.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for depression and/or schizophrenia was denied as there is no competent evidence of a current psychiatric disability.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining medical records from the Frankfurt Hospital in Germany.

The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his death. The Board does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the claims as they are now moot.

The Veteran's service-connected paranoid schizophrenia was rated at 30 percent prior to May 15, 2001. The Board denied a higher rating.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete or missing service personnel records and new evidence, requiring further development including a VA examination.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as a mood disorder not otherwise specified with anxious and depressive features, is related to service. The claim for an increased rating for the residuals of a left distal femur fracture with limitation of motion of the left knee remains pending.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hand tremors, a heart disability, a low back disability, a foot disability, and a psychiatric disability (including PTSD and depression), finding that there was no evidence of chronicity in service or continuity of symptoms after discharge.

The Board has granted service connection for the aggravation of the appellant's depressive disorder by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The Board has determined that the June 1997 rating decision denying service connection for a psychiatric disability, including PTSD, was clearly and unmistakably erroneous. The Court agreed with this determination and reversed the March 2006 Board decision. As a result, the effective date of service connection for depression is now warranted.

The Veteran's TDIU claim was denied, and the effective date for the grant of TDIU is June 23, 1994.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder and a pituitary macroadenoma, finding no current disability and insufficient evidence to establish a link between any in-service symptoms or conditions and his present disabilities.

The Veteran's undifferentiated-type schizophrenia is productive of occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, warranting a 70 percent rating.

The Board found that the Veteran's psychiatric disability did not have its onset during active service or within one year after separation from service, or result from disease or injury in service. Therefore, the claim for service connection was denied.

The Board has reopened the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. The Veteran's current diagnoses include PTSD and major depressive disorder, which are related to his active service, including coming under enemy fire while stationed in Vietnam. A VA examination is needed to assess the current nature, extent, onset, and etiology of any psychiatric disability found to be present.

The Veteran's service-connected paranoid schizophrenia has rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, warranting a TDIU.

The Board found no clear and unmistakable error in the November 1958 rating decision regarding service connection for a psychiatric disability, as there was no formal or informal claim prior to December 24, 2002. The July 2003 rating decision denying service connection for dysthymia (claimed as depression and anxiety) is also found not to contain clear and unmistakable error.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have PTSD and denied his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for further development and adjudication of claims related to his schizophrenia rating, including a claim of clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in prior rating decisions.