PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2016

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, peripheral neuropathy, and ischemic heart disease, have rendered him unable to secure or maintain gainful employment due to his mental health issues and physical limitations.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete service treatment records and a need to verify an in-service stressor involving the Veteran's right knee injury.

The Veteran's service-connected PTSD renders him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, meeting the criteria for TDIU.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional development, including a new opinion regarding his acquired psychiatric condition and an SOC on the issue of initial rating in excess of 30 percent for lung cancer associated with herbicide exposure.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder. The Veteran's PFB is also found to be related to his military service.

The Veteran's TDIU was granted effective January 16, 2011 due to service-connected PTSD. However, the Board found that he had not been rendered unemployable prior to this date.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was granted with an effective date of February 10, 2006. This followed his timely submission of a statement in support of claim on November 4, 2008, which the RO accepted as a petition to reopen his previously denied claim.

The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected conditions did not cause or contribute to his death. The March 2016 VHA opinion concluded that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities were neither singly, nor jointly with some other condition, the immediate or underlying cause of his death.

The Veteran is not entitled to an earlier effective date for the grant of Total Disability Rating due to Individual Unemployability (TDIU) as his claim was received in March 2008, which is the earliest possible effective date.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD and major depression, is found to be the result of witnessing a military sexual trauma. The residuals of fractured third finger with arthritis of the right hand are also found to be service-connected.

The Board is remanding the case for a VA mental disorders examination to determine if the Veteran's stressors occurred and whether his acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is related to those stressors. The examiner will also assess whether the Veteran's history of drug abuse and statements regarding an Article 15 disciplinary proceeding are indicators that his stressors occurred.

The Board has remanded the case to the AOJ for further adjudication due to a need for a retrospective opinion regarding the Veteran's service-connected PTSD during the period of March 9, 1987 to August 18, 2003.

The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50 percent, the maximum schedular rating available. The Board finds that his service-connected disabilities are of such severity as to preclude substantially gainful employment.

The Board has remanded the case for further review of lay statements submitted in May 2015 and to determine if an addendum opinion is needed. The claim will be reconsidered based on this additional information.

The Board granted an initial increased rating of 70 percent for PTSD, effective May 14, 2010. Effective November 8, 2011, the Veteran is entitled to a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's PTSD was found to warrant a 50 percent evaluation prior to January 23, 2015. From January 23, 2015, the Veteran is entitled to a 70 percent evaluation for his PTSD.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's depression is at least as likely as not related to her service, including her in-service sexual assault and giving up a child for adoption. The Board also found that her depression was aggravated by her service-connected hepatitis C.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to conflicting evidence regarding when he stopped working and the need for further information on his income during the years at issue. The TDIU claim remains pending as it is intertwined with other claims for increased ratings.

The Board finds that the Veteran has PTSD and its relation to service, as supported by multiple diagnoses from his treating physicians. The evidence is at least in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's PTSD is related to his service in Vietnam.

The Veteran withdrew his claim of entitlement to an effective date earlier than August 25, 2009 for the award of service connection for PTSD.