The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disability secondary to his service-connected malaria and for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding of a direct or secondary relationship between the veteran's psychiatric disability and his service-connected malaria, nor was there sufficient evidence to establish that he could not secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence linking the veteran's psychiatric disability to his service-connected malaria. The veteran's primary disability is his nonservice-connected back condition, which prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Claimed conditions
- psychiatric disability, malaria
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 22, 2004
- Citation
- 0407418
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 0407418.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a psychiatric disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically regarding the presumption of soundness at entrance into service.
- Denied
The Board denied higher initial disability ratings for the service-connected psychiatric disability and denied earlier effective dates for TDIU, SMC at the schedular housebound rate, and DEA benefits.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left shoulder disability, while remanding claims for bilateral plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis, psychiatric disability, right hip disability, left hip disability, and back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for the Veteran's psychiatric disability and also granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), but denied an earlier effective date for service connection.
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