PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2024

The Board has remanded the case due to pre-decisional errors and insufficient medical opinions, requiring further examination and consideration of the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for an eczema disability and acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, anxiety and persistent depressive disorders, is granted. The skin disability issue requires further examination to determine if it is related to herbicide exposure.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for headaches, back disability, left knee condition, and right knee condition due to a duty to assist error in not obtaining adequate examination opinions. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions as secondary to her service-connected PTSD, tinnitus, or non-service connected TMD.

The Veteran was granted TDIU effective July 1, 2019. The Board found that the Veteran could not secure and follow gainful employment from July 18, 2018.

The Veteran's service-connected PTSD is currently rated at 30 percent, which is the maximum rating available under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The Board found that his disability picture most nearly approximated the criteria necessary for a 30 percent disability rating throughout the period of the appeal.

The Board has determined that the earliest effective date for TDIU is August 28, 2009, based on the Veteran's service-connected disabilities preventing him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment since then.

The Veteran's claim for PTSD was initially denied in September 2006, but service connection was later granted based on new and relevant evidence submitted by the Veteran in April 2019. The effective date of November 9, 2005, is granted for the grant of service connection for PTSD.

The Veteran's PTSD is related to his combat service in Iraq, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for an increased rating and earlier effective date for PTSD, as well as the appeal for SMC based on aid and attendance/housebound criteria prior to September 1, 2011. The Veteran's TDIU claim remains under review.

The Veteran's PTSD was granted service connection with a rating of 70 percent effective November 20, 2017. The appellant is entitled to attorney fees based on the total past-due benefits awarded in the September 2022 rating decision.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's combined service-connected disabilities prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation, and thus grants his TDIU claim.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the TDIU award, finding that there was no inferred or expressed TDIU claim at the time of the August 2015 rating decision granting service connection for PTSD. The earliest effective date assigned is August 29, 2017.

The Veteran's PTSD was rated at 30 percent prior to November 10, 2013 and granted a rating of 70 percent or higher beginning November 10, 2013.,The Board also remanded the issue of entitlement to TDIU due to unclear employment history since January 2014.

The Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, service connection for hypertension, and service connection for sleep apnea is REMANDED due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.

The Board dismissed the appeals regarding initial ratings and effective dates for posttraumatic stress disorder and tinnitus.

The appeal to reduce the PTSD disability rating from 70% to 30% has been dismissed because the September 2020 proposed reduction was not an appealable decision.

The Veteran's claim for a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) was denied in the January 2010 rating decision, and no new or material evidence was received within one year of that decision. The Board found that an earlier effective date is not warranted as there was no factually ascertainable increase in service-connected disabilities prior to November 12, 2020.

The Veteran's diagnosed PTSD is granted as service-connected, with the Board finding an approximate balance of evidence regarding whether it is related to his in-service stressor.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for tinnitus is denied as he already has the earliest possible effective date. The Board also remanded the case due to a lack of relevant Social Security Administration (SSA) records and mental health records from Central Arkansas Healthcare System.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 70 percent from January 10, 2019, to March 24, 2020. The Board found that the severity, frequency, and duration of his symptoms did not more closely approximate total occupational and social impairment.