PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2011

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a new VA psychiatric examination to assess his current level of PTSD disability.

The Veteran's PTSD is found to be causally related to combat and/or fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during her service, and thus granted service connection.

The Veteran's PTSD is not manifested by total occupational and social impairment, so the claim for an increased rating has been denied.

The Veteran's PTSD was manifested by total occupational and social impairment from September 29, 1999 to March 4, 2002, warranting a 100 percent evaluation.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection was not received prior to June 13, 2008. As such, the effective date for his granted benefits is set at June 13, 2008.

The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50 percent since July 2005, and a higher rating is not warranted.

The Board granted service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and assigned a noncompensable evaluation. The Veteran's claims of increased evaluations for hemorrhoids, an evaluation in excess of 20 percent for Type II diabetes mellitus, and service connection for right thigh sarcoma residuals were denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current diagnosis of PTSD is due to an in-service stressor involving seeing dead bodies during service, and this stressor has been verified. As such, the claim for service connection for PTSD is granted.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and TDIU due to a lack of credible supporting evidence that an in-service stressor actually occurred, as his service personnel records do not reflect combat duty. The Veteran's reported stressors were not corroborated.

The Veteran's PTSD is service-connected and the claim for a higher rating for his mood disorder with depressive features, as well as the TDIU claim, are remanded due to inextricability.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a VA psychiatric examination to determine if any current acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD, had its onset in active service. The claim will be reviewed de novo after the examination.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's PTSD with Major Depression is a result of his fear of hostile military activity during service in Vietnam and grants service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran's PTSD symptomatology is most closely approximates occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, warranting a 50 percent disability rating.

The Board has determined that the Veteran meets the criteria for service connection for PTSD, as diagnosed by Dr. A.J.,However, there is no evidence of squamous cell carcinoma or lipomas during service and the presumption of exposure to herbicides does not apply.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder other than PTSD was denied, as the claim has already been established with a 100% evaluation for PTSD. The Board also addressed and denied the reopening of the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including scheduling an updated VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected PTSD and obtaining all outstanding treatment records from the VA Paterson CBOC.

The Veteran's claim for an increased disability rating for his service-connected PTSD is being remanded due to the need for updated VA treatment records and a new examination.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development to address the credibility of his stressor accounts, assess whether he has PTSD based on a corroborated stressor event in service, determine if his psychiatric disabilities are related to service, and evaluate whether his ED is aggravated by his diabetes mellitus.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, diabetes mellitus, and peripheral neuropathy of both lower extremities, prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has remanded the case for further examination to determine if his unemployability is due to his service-connected conditions.

The Board found that the Veteran's psychiatric disorders did not manifest during or as a result of his military service and denied his claim for service connection.