PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2008

The veteran's claims for increased disability ratings were denied as the evidence did not support a compensable rating for any of his service-connected conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various scars, or an increase in severity of PTSD.

The Board remands the claim for verification of the veteran's combat status to determine if he engaged in combat during his service in Vietnam.

The appeal is remanded to provide the veteran with a VA psychiatric examination and review of the claims folder to determine if there is evidence of action or behavioral changes after the claimed in-service assault that indicates it occurred, and whether the veteran currently suffers from PTSD related to such incident.

The veteran's PTSD is not productive of total social and occupational impairment, thus an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD has not been met.

The veteran's service-connected PTSD is not shown to be more than 70 percent disabling, and the claim for a higher rating was denied.

The veteran's PTSD was rated at 50 percent from February 2004 until August 2007, while the ratings for DDD of the lumbar and cervical spine remained unchanged.

The Board remands the claim for further development, including verification of in-service stressors and a possible VA examination.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for additional development of the record.

The Board denied service connection for a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD, diabetes mellitus, and an increased rating for chondromalacia of the left patella. The claim for a temporary total (convalescent) rating following plantar fibroma surgery was also denied.

The veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was reopened, but denied. The claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and sebaceous cysts were not addressed.

The veteran was granted a 10 percent evaluation for his PTSD from March 14, 1970, to January 1, 1976, and a 100 percent evaluation from January 1, 1976, to March 26, 1981.

The veteran's service-connected PTSD has been productive of a disability picture that more nearly approximates that of occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking or mood and the inability to establish and maintain effective relationships. At no point from June 7, 2004 to the present is the veteran's service-connected PTSD shown to have been productive of a disability picture that more nearly approximates that of total occupational and social impairment.

The veteran's PTSD was found to be manifested by depression, anger, irritability, nightmares, anxiety, social isolation, avoidance, memory loss, flashbacks, hallucinations, panic attacks, suicidal ideations, and sleep impairment. However, the Board concluded that a rating in excess of 50 percent was not warranted.

The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for heart disorder, back disorder (claimed as back problems), and PTSD. The appeal was also denied for residuals of head trauma, to include seizures.

The veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for the increased rating of PTSD and TDIU were denied as there was no evidence of a factually ascertainable increase in disability or unemployability within one year prior to February 14, 2005.

The veteran was granted an effective date of September 12, 2003 for the total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU), but denied an earlier effective date for service connection for PTSD.

The veteran's current diagnosis of PTSD is attributed to in-service stressors, and the Board grants service connection for PTSD.

The veteran's PTSD symptoms were found to be mild to moderate and did not warrant a rating in excess of 30 percent.

The veteran is not shown to have a disability manifested by PTSD due to disease or injury that was incurred in or aggravated by active service.

The Board remands the claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, for further development and readjudication.