PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2000

The veteran's PTSD disability was reduced from 70% to 30% effective April 1, 1998. The RO denied restoration of the 70% rating and denied entitlement to a TDIU.

The Board has determined that the appellant's PTSD was incurred in service and granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD and found that new evidence supports this claim. The veteran is now entitled to a determination on whether his PTSD is related to his military service.

The veteran's post-traumatic stress disorder was evaluated at 30 percent prior to September 14, 1998 and increased to 50 percent effective September 14, 1998. The appeals for higher evaluations were denied.

The Board has remanded the case to the RO for additional development, including obtaining medical records and seeking opinions from a VA physician regarding the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board found that the veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy and there is no credible supporting evidence of the claimed inservice stressors. Therefore, service connection for PTSD was denied.

The Board found that the veteran's PTSD does not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 50 percent, as his symptoms do not demonstrate more than considerable social and industrial impairment.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD in 1990. New evidence submitted since then, including a statement from the veteran and treatment records, is considered new and material to reopen the claim. However, the evidence does not establish that the veteran has PTSD or that he experienced an inservice stressor related to his claimed condition.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD. The appeal is pending and requires further development to determine if there were verified in-service stressors that could support a diagnosis of PTSD.

The Board found that the cause of death was not caused by or contributed to by any service-connected condition, including presumptively related conditions due to radiation exposure. The veteran's prostate cancer and hypertension were not service-connected, nor could they be presumed as such. DIC benefits under section 1318 were also denied.

The Board found that the veteran does not have a current diagnosis of PTSD and thus, his claim for service connection is not well grounded.

The veteran's PTSD is currently evaluated at 30 percent and the Board finds that it does not warrant an increased rating.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating for PTSD is being remanded to the RO for further development, including a VA psychiatric examination and consideration of staged ratings.

The Board denied the veteran's request for an earlier effective date of March 18, 1997, for the award of service connection for PTSD. The earliest diagnosis of PTSD was found to be on March 18, 1997.

The Board denied service connection for a bilateral knee disability and granted an increased rating of 30% for post-traumatic stress disorder, but the veteran's PTSD symptoms have not resulted in more than definite interpersonal or industrial impairment.

The Board has determined that the appellant's PTSD is related to his service in Vietnam, and thus granted his claim for service connection.

The Board determined that the veteran does not have PTSD and denied his claim for service connection.

The VA determined that the veteran's PTSD, currently rated at 70 percent, does not warrant a higher rating as it only produces severe impairment in social relationships and employment.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD because there was no verified or verifiable in-service stressful experience to support a diagnosis of PTSD, and the veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy during his active military service.

The veteran's service-connected PTSD is not productive of more than mild social and industrial impairment, nor is it productive of more than occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms.