The veteran's claim of entitlement to a higher rating for his service-connected bipolar disorder is being remanded due to the need to obtain additional Social Security Administration records.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to obtain and consider SSA records related to the veteran's disability benefits claim.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder, adjustment disorder with depressed mood
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2006
- Citation
- 0600638
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0600638.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Granted
This decision grants service connection for erectile dysfunction and assigns a noncompensable rating, effective November 6, 2020. The Veteran's adjustment disorder with depressed mood is granted as service-connected, also effective November 6, 2020. An effective date prior to November 6, 2020, is denied for the award of service connection for GERD and right lower extremity radiculopathy.,An effective date prior to November 6, 2020, is denied for the award of service connection for GERD and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Granted
The Veteran's bipolar disorder was rated at 50% and then reduced to 30%. The Board has now granted a 70% rating effective November 23, 2021, based on the improvement in her symptoms.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to his service-connected adjustment disorder with depressed mood, which contributed substantially or materially to his death. Therefore, service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
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