Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2013

The Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression, are being remanded due to inadequate examination reports. The examiner is asked to consider the Veteran's military occupational specialty, his history of in-service noise exposure, and lay statements when determining whether any current disabilities are related to his military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his current condition and his military service.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability other than PTSD, diagnosed as a mood disorder manifested by depression with anxiety. The latter claim is based on secondary service connection due to its being caused or aggravated by his service-connected left shoulder disability.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied as the evidence did not establish that his heart disorder, bilateral foot disorders, or acquired psychiatric disorder are related to his military service.

The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea, GERD, and depression. The Veteran is now rated at 40% for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine from July 11, 2011.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is granted as secondary to his service-connected sleep apnea. His sleep apnea remains at a 100% rating from December 1, 2009, to May 19, 2013, but drops back to a 50% rating thereafter. The Veteran's ED claim is denied.

The Board found that there was no evidence of schizophrenia in service and insufficient continuity of symptoms to establish a claim for service connection. The Veteran's diagnosis of schizophrenia occurred after separation from service, and the Board concluded that it is unrelated to service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, bilateral eye disability, prominent submandibular salivary glands, and left knee disability. The evidence did not support a finding of service connection in any of these cases.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the failure to provide proper notice of a videoconference hearing. The issues are whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen his PTSD claim, and entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Board has found that the evidence supports service connection for COPD. The claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include depression must be remanded for further development, including a VA examination.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a perforated ear drum is denied as there is no evidence of such condition during his active duty or thereafter. The claims for headaches and psychiatric disability are also denied due to lack of competent medical evidence supporting the claimed conditions.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of the hip joints is pending. The claim for a skin rash has been reopened but remains denied as new evidence does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.,Service connection for diabetes mellitus, Type II is granted. The low back disability claim was previously denied and reopening was granted due to new evidence received. Service connection is established based on a finding that the current condition is related to active duty.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for sciatica and plantar fasciitis remains pending as new evidence does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. The eye disability claim was previously denied but reopened due to new evidence received, however no service connection is granted as there is no link between current condition and active duty.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD, major depression, anxiety disorder) claim remains pending as new evidence does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and determined that new evidence supports this reopening. The Veteran does not have any of the claimed conditions, including back, knee, foot, elbow, hearing loss, tinnitus, diabetes mellitus type 2, heart disease, or psychiatric disorders, that were incurred in or aggravated by his service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and hypertensive vascular disease, finding that new and material evidence was not received to reopen the claim for PTSD and that there is no evidence of hypertension within one year post-service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for various disabilities, including hearing loss and spine conditions, were denied as there was no evidence of in-service injury or disease that would support the current diagnoses.,Service connection could not be established for any of the claimed disabilities due to a lack of credible evidence linking them to service.

The Board found no credible evidence supporting the appellant's claimed in-service stressor event, and thus denied service connection for PTSD. The Board also noted that other psychiatric diagnoses provided by competent medical professionals were not shown to be related to his service.

The Board has determined that the VA examination and opinion are inadequate, and thus remands the case for further development.

The Board denied service connection for psychiatric, right knee, and right foot disabilities as secondary to neurologic impairment of the left lower leg. The Veteran did not have a diagnosed psychiatric disability or current right knee or right foot disability that was related to his service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied due to his failure to report for scheduled VA examinations. The Board also noted that additional development was required, including obtaining mental health records from active duty service.

The Board found no evidence of a current acquired psychiatric disability related to service, and thus denied the claim.