The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection of a nervous condition (claimed as bipolar disorder) and granted it. The veteran is currently rated at 30 percent for bronchial asthma, but his combined disability rating does not meet the schedular requirements for individual unemployability.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to provide adequate reasons and bases in scheduling the veteran for a mental health examination, leading to a denial of this issue. The veteran's service records indicate he was diagnosed with passive-aggressive personality disorder during service but improved post-service. A private psychologist concluded that his current condition is at least as likely as not related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 9, 2006
- Citation
- 0606817
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed alternatively as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, due to an inadequate VA examiner's opinion and a failure to fulfill the duty to assist in obtaining relevant medical records.
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