Acquired psychiatric disorder Board decisions

The veteran is found incompetent for handling VA benefits due to his service-connected schizophrenia, and the claim is denied.

The veteran's service-connected schizophrenia has resulted in the need for regular aid and attendance of another person, thus meeting the criteria for special monthly compensation based on this condition. The claim for housebound rate is moot as the veteran already qualifies for aid and attendance.

The veteran is seeking service connection for a neuropsychiatric disorder, including organic brain syndrome with personality disorder and depressive syndrome. The Board has ordered remand to obtain necessary medical records and opinions regarding the etiology of his condition.

The Board has granted an effective date of March 16, 2001 for the grant of service connection for schizophrenia.

The Board found that the veteran's cause of death was not caused by his service-connected psychiatric disorder, and thus denied the claim.

The Board finds that the veteran's cervical spine disability, including arthritis, is service-connected and grants a rating of 40 percent. The psychiatric disability claim is denied. The right thoracic outlet syndrome is granted restoration to a 20 percent rating.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an effective date prior to May 12, 2003 for a 100 percent rating for paranoid schizophrenia as his disability was already rated and assigned an effective date of October 14, 1998.

The Board determined that the veteran's current psychiatric disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by active duty, and there is no persuasive medical evidence of manifestation to a compensable degree within one year after discharge.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection due to new and material evidence submitted, but finds that his psychiatric disorder is not related to active service.

The Board found that the evidence did not show a connection between the veteran's service and his acquired psychiatric disorder, leading to denial of the claim for accrued benefits.

The Board has determined that the veteran likely developed paranoid schizophrenia within one year of his discharge from service, and thus grants service connection for this disability.

The Board found that the veteran's service-connected schizophrenia did not cause his death, and denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been received to reopen the veteran's previously denied claim of service connection for paranoid schizophrenia.

The Board has ordered the case to be remanded for additional development due to failure to obtain certain medical records and personnel records.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 30 percent evaluation of schizophrenia, finding that the evidence does not support such a determination.

The veteran had not been rated as 100% disabling during the entire ten years preceding his death, and there is no indication that he would have been rated as 100% disabled except for clear and unmistakable error in a prior decision. The appellant's claim is based on hypothetical entitlement during his lifetime.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for sinusitis, an increased rating for asthma, and TDIU prior to August 9, 2000. The effective date of the 100% disability rating for paranoid schizophrenia was set at August 9, 2000.

The Board has granted service connection for a psychiatric disorder, claimed as depression, and denied the other issues on appeal. The veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus was not supported by evidence in the record at the time of the last final denial. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities is denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding no evidence to support a diagnosis related to his active military service. The issue was reopened based on new and material evidence submitted by the veteran.

The Board has found new and material evidence to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection for psychiatric disability, which was previously denied in unappealed rating decisions. The claim is now reopened.