Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2019

The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and depression) due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's time in service. The case is being remanded for further examination and opinion regarding the acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and adjustment disorder, is granted. The RO also awarded service connection for sleep apnea with a rating of 50 percent; low back disability with a rating of 40 percent; sinusitis with a rating of 30 percent; left knee disability with a rating of 10 percent; and rhinitis with a rating of 0 percent.

The Veteran's service connection claim for a psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as Other Specified Stressor and Trauma Related Disorder, is granted with an effective date of August 27, 2013. However, his request for earlier effective dates are denied.,The Veteran's increased rating claim for coronary artery disease (CAD) is granted with a 60% disability rating effective January 29, 2014. His request for an earlier effective date is also denied.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for an eye/vision disability and an acquired psychiatric disorder, as secondary to his service-connected traumatic brain injury/head injury. Additional development is needed, including examinations and opinions regarding the relationship between the disabilities and the service-connected condition.

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), and lumbar radiculopathy of the left lower extremity. The RO implemented this decision by awarding benefits to the Veteran. However, the appellant is denied attorney fees based on past due benefits granted in the August 2016 rating decision.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disability, a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss, and a rating in excess of 40 percent for traumatic brain injury (TBI). The decision found that there was no evidence of any other psychiatric disability superimposed on his preexisting personality disorder. Right ear hearing loss was rated as noncompensable based on the audiometric results. For TBI, the Board noted that cognitive impairment is a common result and should be evaluated under the appropriate table.

The Board has remanded several issues for further development, including service connection claims and evaluations for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. The effective dates for the grants of service connection for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss remain denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder, is related to his active service and grants entitlement to service connection.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no verified stressor and the medical evidence does not link his current diagnosis of PTSD to a specific in-service event.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for a bilateral shoulder disorder and an acquired psychiatric disorder (depressive disorder) as there was no evidence to support these claims.

The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's service connection claims, including for low back disability, bilateral hip disabilities, GERD, and diabetes mellitus. The Veteran is also facing a remand for his TDIU claim.

The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient rationale provided by the August 2015 VA examiner regarding the etiology of various conditions, including right foot/ankle and left foot disorders, sleep apnea, hypertension, edema, kidney disorder, and acquired psychiatric disorder. The issues are inextricably intertwined and require further examination.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, and enlarged fatty liver disease are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.

The Veteran's claims for PTSD, depression, alcohol abuse disorder, and cannabis abuse disorder were denied. The claim for service connection for PTSD was reopened due to new evidence received since the previous denial.

The Board dismissed the appeal as there is no longer any case or controversy pending before the Board for the issue of an earlier effective date for a 100 percent disability rating for paranoid schizophrenia.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, and a psychiatric disorder (including schizophrenia and PTSD) due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The claims are also remanded to verify if the Veteran served in the Persian Gulf and to determine if he is eligible for presumptive service connection for fibromyalgia.

The Veteran's claims for diabetes mellitus, type II and right leg amputation were denied as there was no evidence of in-service exposure to herbicides or other causative factors. The psychiatric claim was denied due to lack of verifiable stressors.

The Board denied service connection for a right shoulder condition, left hand condition, lower back condition, bilateral foot condition, and acquired psychiatric condition (anxiety disorder).,Service connection was not granted as the preexisting conditions did not worsen during service or were not related to service.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further examination to determine if he is unemployable due to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities is granted as service-connected, and a VA examination is needed to determine if his acquired psychiatric disorder (anxiety) is secondary to his now service-connected peripheral neuropathy.