Acquired psychiatric disorder Board decisions

The Board has remanded the claims for hypertension and an acquired psychiatric disability due to insufficient opinions regarding their relationship with service-connected conditions, specifically hearing loss, tinnitus, or Meniere's disease. Additional medical opinions are needed.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction are all granted as service connected. The Board found that the evidence was at least in equipoise for these conditions being related to his military service.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD as secondary to a military sexual trauma is being remanded due to the need for further examination and consideration of evidence.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD as secondary to a military sexual trauma is being remanded due to the need for further examination and consideration of evidence.

The Board has determined that the severance of service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy was improper, and service connection must be reinstated. Additionally, several other issues have been remanded for further development.

The Board denied service connection for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) secondary to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)/Mental Disorders because there was no clinical diagnosis of TBI in the record, and the Veteran's lay statements were insufficient to substantiate her claim.

The Veteran's cause of death, adenocarcinoma of the lung, was not caused or contributed to by a service-connected disability. The Veteran had been rated at 100% for schizophrenia since March 2006, but this rating did not meet the requirement of being continuously rated as totally disabled for 10 years immediately preceding death.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for schizophrenia is denied, but his claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than schizophrenia and PTSD (to include bipolar disorder) is granted. The bipolar disorder was found to be aggravated by the service-connected PTSD.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability has been reopened and granted. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (to possibly include PTSD, depression, anxiety) remains denied.

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The claim was reopened due to new evidence received since the previous denial in September 1972. Service connection is established based on continuity of symptomatology during active service.

The Board has determined that further development is needed for the Veteran's claims of service connection for low back injury, scar on lower back, and mental disorder. The TDIU claim is also remanded.

The Board has remanded several issues for further development, including service connection claims and a VA examination to determine the nature and severity of the Veteran's disabilities.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depression and schizophrenia. The new evidence received since the 1977 denial shows a current diagnosis of an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's evaluation for depression with schizophrenia was denied as it did not meet the criteria for a higher rating of more than 70 percent.

The claim of service connection for a low back disability is denied, and the issue of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is remanded.

The Veteran's tinnitus has been assigned a 10 percent rating, the maximum authorized under Diagnostic Code 6260.,The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability is rated as noncompensable (zero percent).,Service connection for type II diabetes mellitus and hypertension was not established due to lack of evidence showing onset during service or within one year post-service.,There is no indication that the Veteran has an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection are not supported by the evidence of record and have been denied.

The Board found that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability is not service-connected and denied his claim. The residuals of TBI are currently rated at 40 percent.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's psychiatric disability, including depression, is proximately due to or the result of service-connected disabilities, specifically his right and left knee disabilities. Therefore, service connection for a psychiatric disability on a secondary basis is granted.

The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 40 percent since June 29, 2015. The rating for his posttraumatic stress disorder with adjustment disorder and depressed mood has been increased to 30 percent effective February 6, 2013. His anal fistula cyst remains non-compensable. His digestive disorder is rated at zero percent.