The Board found that the veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including schizophrenia, did not have its onset during service and was not aggravated by service. The pre-existing condition of schizophrenia existed prior to service and continued after discharge.
The deciding factor: VA medical records showed no evidence of a current diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder related to military service, and the veteran's pre-service history of hyperactivity and undifferentiated schizophrenia did not show an increase in severity during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include schizophrenia
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 19, 2004
- Citation
- 0404772
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,710 · Granted: 15% (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 0404772.
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: Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of his acquired psychiatric disorder, to include schizophrenia, is denied as there are no unadjudicated or pending claims prior to August 16, 2016.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including schizophrenia. The issue of TDIU is remanded due to the lack of a completed VA Form 21-8940.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include schizophrenia, finding that there was no evidence of a pre-existing condition and insufficient medical opinion linking current symptoms to service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including schizophrenia. The case will be reviewed again after additional evidence is obtained.
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