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Granted

The veteran seeks an effective date for PTSD back to 1987, when he applied for disability benefits with the SSA. The Board will address whether this claim is valid based on new and material evidence.

The deciding factor: The veteran's original claim was denied in 1987, but a reopened claim seeking service connection for PTSD was filed in 1994, which was construed as an informal claim to reopen the previous denial. The effective date should be set from when the new claim was received.

Claimed conditions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
January 14, 2004
Citation
0401267

Veterans Law Judge

Barry F. Bohan

Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0401267.

What this means for you

A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.

What you can do next

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