PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2007

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including verification of stressor events and a psychiatric examination to determine if the veteran's current psychiatric disorder is related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's cause of death, a myocardial infarction, was not related to his service-connected PTSD and therefore denied the claim for service connection.

The Board found that the service-connected PTSD did not cause or materially contribute to the veteran's death, and thus denied the claim for service connection for the cause of his death.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss and residuals of a right knee injury, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability evaluations under VA rating criteria.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD and finds that new evidence submitted since the previous denial raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Board has granted the veteran's claims for service connection for a right hip condition and PTSD, as well as her claim to reopen previously denied claims. The veteran's brain lesion is now rated at zero percent due to resolution of the disability. Service connection for multiple sclerosis or a disability manifested by right-sided numbness was not established, but benign positional vertigo incurred during active service is granted.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for headaches, memory loss, PTSD, and a dental condition due to lack of evidence supporting these claims.

The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation in excess of 50 percent for PTSD is being remanded due to the need for a more contemporaneous VA examination.

The Board has determined that the veteran's PTSD is related to his service and grants service connection for PTSD.

The Board finds that the veteran's PTSD warrants an earlier effective date to June 2, 1999, and grants his claim for a 100 percent disability rating for PTSD as of April 28, 2003. The service connection claim for erectile dysfunction remains pending.

The veteran's request for a hearing before the Board at the RO has been granted, and he must be scheduled for a video hearing.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service in Vietnam, including exposure to mortar and rocket attacks, supports a finding of PTSD. The VA will schedule an examination for the veteran to determine if he currently suffers from PTSD as a result of his verified stressors. Additionally, the veteran is entitled to a disability rating and effective date for his claim.

The Board has determined that there is insufficient evidence to establish the veteran's claimed stressors and therefore remands the case for further development, including verification of any verified stressors and a VA PTSD examination.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including COPD and PTSD, render him unemployable.

The veteran's claim for an effective date prior to March 6, 2003, for the grant of TDIU was denied as he did not meet the percentage requirements for a TDIU prior to that date.

The Board has reopened the veteran's previously denied claim for service connection for PTSD and finds that new and material evidence has been submitted. The case is remanded to determine if the veteran meets the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include post-traumatic stress disorder, finding that there was no corroborated in-service stressor upon which a diagnosis of PTSD may be based.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than February 25, 2004 for the grant of service connection for PTSD is without legal merit and therefore denied.

The veteran's appeal is remanded for the issuance of outstanding VA treatment records and a contemporaneous examination to assess the current severity of his PTSD. The claim for service connection for hives as secondary to service-connected PTSD will also be addressed.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than November 22, 2004 for the grant of a total disability rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to lack of evidence showing that the veteran filed an informal claim prior to November 2004 or that his service-connected disabilities underwent an increase in severity within one year prior to November 2004.