The Board found that the veteran's service records do not show any head injury during his active duty, and thus denied his claim for residuals of a head injury. The issue regarding PTSD was characterized as one requiring new and material evidence to reopen previously-denied claims.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted for a disability that is not currently manifested; the Board concluded there were no current manifestations of any residual head injuries or acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of head injury, acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2004
- Citation
- 0400684
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 541 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0400684.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the claims for service connection for anxiety, depression, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD), finding that new and relevant evidence supports these claims.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is not service-connected as there is no evidence of a current disability.,The Veteran's residuals of pneumonia are service-connected due to his military service and the presence of lung scarring from previous pneumonia episodes.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is service-connected based on in-service stressors.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for left and right shoulder pain, a left ankle condition, cervical spine pain, respiratory issues, bilateral hearing loss, and residuals of a head injury due to incomplete medical records and inadequate VA examinations.,Incomplete service treatment records are noted, which may affect the determination of service connection.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and will need to provide an updated VA examination to determine if the Veteran's current head injury residuals are related to his service.
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