PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2016

The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated as 70 percent disabling. The Board has determined that the criteria for a higher rating are not met, and thus the claim for an increased rating remains denied. However, the Veteran was granted TDIU effective from August 28, 2012.

The Veteran's PTSD was initially rated at 10 percent prior to May 12, 2012. From May 12, 2012, to October 8, 2014, the Veteran's PTSD warranted a rating of 50 percent.

The Veteran's PTSD has been manifested by symptoms such as depressed mood, chronic sleep impairment, anxiety, emotional instability, irritability, flattened affect, and disturbances of motivation and mood. The Board finds that the Veteran's PTSD more closely approximates a disability rating of 50 percent.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, cold injury residuals, and peripheral vascular disease, have rendered him in need of regular aid and attendance on a daily basis. The Board finds that the criteria for SMC based on the need for aid and attendance are met.

The Board has remanded the case to attempt to corroborate a claimed stressor event of witnessing a vehicular accident that caused serious bodily injury to a sergeant, which ultimately resulted in the sergeant's death. The Veteran served as a truck driver with the 91st Engineering Company during the period from August 1967 to approximately August 1968.

The Veteran's PTSD was found to cause occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, but not total occupational and social impairment. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss met the criteria for a 10 percent evaluation as of September 17, 2015.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to scheduling issues for a videoconference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge. The rating and TDIU claims are still pending.

The Veteran's claims of service connection for a leg infection, drug abuse, benign prostatic hyperplasia, onychodystrophy and splitting, sleep disorder, fatigue, and concentration problems were denied as secondary to his service-connected PTSD with major depressive disorder.

The Board found that the Veteran does not meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and therefore denied service connection for PTSD. The acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD was also denied as there is no current diagnosis of such condition in the record.

The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated as 50 percent disabling, and the Board found that this rating adequately reflects his current level of disability. The other claims for service connection or a TDIU were denied.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and consideration of additional medical records. The issue remains on remand.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability, including PTSD, depression, and paranoid schizophrenia. This includes obtaining VA treatment records from September 2015 to the present, scheduling the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination, and ensuring all pertinent laws and regulations are considered in the decision.

For the period October 8, 2010 to September 9, 2011, the Veteran's PTSD was manifested by symptoms no greater than occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks due to depressed mood, anxiety, hypervigilance, social isolation, suspiciousness, fleeting suicidal thoughts, chronic sleep impairment, anger and irritability, mild memory loss and exaggerated startle response. For the period beginning September 10, 2011, the Veteran's PTSD has been manifested by symptoms no greater than occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas due to the symptoms listed above, plus symptoms no greater than suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, anger and impaired impulse control, occasional neglect of personal appearance, difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances and an inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.,For the period October 8, 2010 to September 9, 2011, the Veteran's hepatitis C has been manifested by symptoms no greater than daily fatigue and malaise, arthralgia, anorexia and right upper quadrant pain, but without a requirement for continuous medication, incapacitating episodes, weight loss and hepatomegaly.

The Veteran's PTSD with depressive disorder and alcohol abuse resulted in occupational and social impairment, but did not meet the criteria for a higher rating. The Board found that his condition warranted a 70 percent disability rating prior to July 11, 2014, and a 100 percent disability rating as of that date.

The Board granted service connection for CAD associated with PTSD and assigned an effective date of December 10, 2004. The Veteran's claim was pending between May 3, 1989, and August 31, 2010, when the regulation adding ischemic heart disease as a presumptive disease due to in-service exposure to herbicides became effective.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at the highest available rating of 70 percent, which approximates occupational and social impairment in most areas due to symptoms such as impaired impulse control.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for a higher rating for tinnitus and service connection for hepatitis C, right ear condition other than hearing loss, and bilateral hearing loss. The claim of service connection for PTSD was granted.

The Veteran's service connection claims for mitral valve prolapse, pseudofolliculitis barbae, and alopecia areata were granted. His claim for an initial compensable rating for residual scarring from a right ring finger cyst removal was also granted.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining updated VA treatment records and scheduling examinations to evaluate the current severity of his service-connected coronary artery disease and PTSD.

The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated at 50 percent, and the Board finds that it does not meet the criteria for a higher rating as his symptoms do not cause occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.