Acquired psychiatric disorder decisions — 2023

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to various issues, including bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The appeal is also remanded for clarification on the cause of death.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient verification of the Veteran's in-service stressor event. The RO is instructed to attempt to obtain any records that may corroborate the Veteran's in-service stressor and ensure all appropriate action is taken for obtaining Federal records as required by regulations.

The Veteran's claims for bruxism (grinding of teeth) and temporomandibular joint disorder have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including generalized anxiety disorder, has not resulted in a compensable rating due to insufficient evidence of current disability.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritis, lumbosacral strain, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and left knee strain. The right shoulder disorder claim is denied.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for left and right upper extremity carpel tunnel syndrome, as well as an acquired psychiatric disorder. The reasons include inadequate opinions based on inaccurate factual premises and the need to consider the Veteran's lay contentions regarding her military occupational specialty.

The Veteran's headaches have been rated as 30 percent since February 1, 2018. The Board has found that the Veteran's headaches are characterized by prostrating attacks occurring on average once a month.,The Veteran is seeking service connection for her foot conditions and acquired psychiatric condition. She also seeks an increased rating for her headaches.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD. However, further development is needed to verify stressor events and obtain medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of any diagnosed conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, serous otitis media, and several other conditions were denied. The appeals for increased ratings for hearing loss and scars, as well as the effective date claims for serous otitis media and scars were also denied.

The appeal regarding the timeliness of a March 2017 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) for service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder is dismissed.,Entitlement to an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for unstable scar of the medial vertical scar of the right knee and entitlement to an effective date earlier than June 12, 2009, for a noncompensable rating for scars of the medial vertical scar and medial small scar of the right knee are both dismissed.,Entitlement to a separate rating for right quadriceps and calf atrophy is denied.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of head injury, psychiatric disorder (depression and anxiety), and bilateral eye disability were denied as there was no valid DSM-5 diagnosis during the appeal period or approximate thereto. The Veteran had a history of congenital strabismus and strabismic amblyopia that preexisted service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU due to the need for additional medical examinations and development of records. The issues are still pending.

The Board has remanded the case for a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder is related to his active service. The issues of service connection for TBI and PTSD remain unresolved.

The Veteran's appeal for a rating higher than 50 percent for migraine headaches has been dismissed.,Her claims for service connection of psychiatric disorder, ovarian cysts, and abdominal and pelvic pain have been reopened due to new evidence received since the final decisions.

The Veteran's claims for PTSD due to military sexual trauma and a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD are remanded as the VA examinations did not consider his in-service misconduct.,The Veteran's claim for TBI residuals is remanded as there was no determination of whether he had an in-service TBI, and tinnitus, headaches, and fatigue may be related to this condition.,The Veteran's claims for cervical spine disorder, lumbar spine disorder, left ankle disorder, right ankle disorder, left foot disorder, and right foot disorder are remanded as the VA examinations did not consider his reported in-service injuries.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to new and material evidence having been received, but the specific nature of the issues remains unclear as they are still being evaluated on their merits.

The Veteran's claims of service connection for right and left knee disabilities, left testicle disability, and acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD) have been reopened. Service connection has been granted for major depressive disorder.

The Veteran's sciatic neuropathy, left lower extremity, is granted. The claims for right leg pain with poor blood circulation, left leg pain with poor blood circulation, and left quadricep contusion are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions. The claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is also remanded due to insufficient verification of the claimed stressor.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient verification of stressors reported by the Veteran. The Veteran is seeking service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD, and the case will be returned to the RO for further action.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder including PTSD and MDD, finding the Appellant's account of his alleged stressors and onset of mental health symptoms during service to be not credible. There is no persuasive evidence that PTSD or any other psychiatric disorder began in or was caused by his military service.

The appeal is remanded for further evaluation of the Veteran's headaches and acquired psychiatric disability, as well as a determination on TDIU. The effective date for service connection for headaches remains July 18, 2016.