Acquired psychiatric disorder Board decisions

The Veteran's sleep apnea did not have its onset in active service and is not otherwise etiologically related to service. The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against his claim for entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a Travel Board hearing due to his failure to report for an earlier scheduled hearing and the undeliverable address issue. The claims of service connection for psychiatric disabilities and for a low back disability are currently in a status of 'unknown' as they do not pertain to service connection issues.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD and remanded it to allow further development, including consideration of new evidence and regulations.

The Board has determined that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and hepatitis C. The Veteran did not have a current diagnosis of either condition at the time of his appeal, nor was there any credible evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a new VA examination for his headaches and for the AOJ to request SSA records.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to address whether any current psychiatric disorders are secondary to service-connected lichen simplex chronicus.

The Board denied service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including a psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia. The claim was reopened due to new evidence but the claims were still denied on their merits.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder, is denied as the appellant failed to report for a scheduled VA examination without good cause.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including searching for relevant records and conducting VA examinations to determine if the Veteran currently has a psychiatric disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder related to service.

The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to clarify the Veteran's current psychiatric diagnoses and their etiology, including whether he meets the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. The claim will be remanded for this purpose.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining medical records and providing formal notice of the information and evidence necessary to reopen his service connection claims.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for both paranoid schizophrenia and PTSD, finding that there is no evidence to support a diagnosis of PTSD. The Veteran's symptoms are attributed to his pre-existing paranoid schizophrenia.

The Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for a 100% rating for service-connected schizophrenia is dismissed due to the finality of the August 1999 Board decision and lack of assertion of clear and unmistakable error.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability and a psychiatric disability, both claimed as secondary to his service-connected sural nerve impairment. The evidence does not support these claims.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, was granted. The current disability rating remains at 50 percent.

The Veteran's bilateral inguinal hernia, status post repair, was granted a noncompensable disability rating. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, was also granted.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been presented to reopen the claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, hearing loss, and tinnitus. The Veteran's claims were previously denied in February 2006 due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development to obtain additional medical records and personnel information, as well as a VA psychiatric examination. The claim will be reconsidered based on the new evidence.

The Board found that the Veteran's psychiatric disorder, including diagnosed schizophrenia and alleged PTSD, did not meet the diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. The condition was neither incurred in nor aggravated by active military service or the proximate result of a service-connected disability.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining military and civil service personnel records, treatment records from Elgin Mental Health Center, and another psychiatric examination. The Veteran's schizophrenia is being evaluated to determine if it is related to his active duty service or had an onset within one year of his separation in November 1971.