Acquired psychiatric disorder Board decisions

The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development of evidence related to the veteran's claims.

The veteran's claims for service connection for left knee, right knee, migraine headaches, chin and head injury, acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression), and residuals of a right hand 5th metacarpal fracture were denied.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating and service connection for a psychiatric disorder is being remanded to the RO for further development.

The Board denied the veteran's applications to reopen claims for service connection for amputation of the right index finger and schizophrenia, as new and material evidence was not provided.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development of evidence, including attempts to locate service medical records and any related discharge documents.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development of evidence, including obtaining SSA records and private medical records.

The Board remands the case for additional development, specifically to obtain an addendum opinion regarding the etiology of hypertension and to address issues related to headaches and psychiatric disability.

The Board denied service connection for a psychiatric disorder as it was not shown to have been incurred or aggravated in active military service and is not proximately due to or the result of any service-connected disability.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for paranoid schizophrenia as there was no evidence of this disorder during service or within one year after separation, and the earliest documentation of the condition was in December 1980.

The appeal is remanded for further development of the evidence.

The Board denied a rating higher than 30 percent for psychiatric disability from November 1, 1992, through September 22, 2000. The veteran's service-connected disabilities have resulted in physical and mental incapacity, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect him from hazards or dangers incident to his daily environment.

The veteran's schizophrenia is not productive of occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory; impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; or difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.

The Board remands the case for an additional VA examination to determine if the veteran's major depressive disorder is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disability.

The Board found that the veteran's paranoid schizophrenia had improved since August 2002, and thus denied restoration of a 100 percent rating. However, it also determined that a 50 percent rating was not warranted for the period on appeal.

The Board denied service connection for PTSD and an acquired psychiatric disorder as there was no in-service stressor supporting a diagnosis of PTSD that could be corroborated, and medical evidence failed to show a current diagnosis of an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, PTSD, and pes planus, as well as the claim for VA treatment for a psychosis.

The Board remands the issue of service connection for paranoid type schizophrenia due to an inability to locate the veteran's service medical records and a need for additional evidence.

The veteran's applications to reopen claims for service connection for bilateral osteoarthritis of the shoulders and a psychiatric disorder were denied due to a lack of new and material evidence.

The veteran is entitled to an earlier effective date of December 2, 1997, for the establishment of service connection for paranoid schizophrenia.

The Board found that the veteran's scoliosis of the thoracic spine preexisted service and was not aggravated by service. The claim for a psychiatric disorder, to include anxiety, depression, and manic depression, was also denied as it was not incurred in or aggravated by active military service, nor is it secondary to the service-connected scar of the left neck or his back disability.