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Whole decision: Denied

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than January 22, 1999, for the grant of service connection for schizoaffective disorder. The decision stated that the preponderance of evidence was against his claim.

The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran did not submit a formal or informal communication in writing requesting to reopen his original claim for service connection until January 22, 1999, which resulted in the grant of benefits. The effective date could only be as early as this date due to the finality of the July 1987 rating decision.

Claimed conditions
schizoaffective disorder
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
June 7, 2006
Citation
0616632

Veterans Law Judge

J. Connolly Jevtich

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 0616632.

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.

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