The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and for separate initial schedular 10 percent ratings for bilateral tinnitus. The claim for service connection was based on a lack of medical evidence linking any current psychiatric disorders to service, while the claim for increased ratings for tinnitus was found to be without legal merit due to the existing regulations not allowing for separate ratings.
The deciding factor: The veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder and bilateral tinnitus were not shown to have been incurred or aggravated by service. The Board also noted that under current VA regulations, a single 10 percent rating is assigned for tinnitus regardless of whether it affects one ear or both ears.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2006
- Citation
- 0635767
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 0635767.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether injuries sustained in a November 2001 incident were in the line of duty. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is also remanded due to its interdependence with the line of duty issue.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error in failing to obtain private treatment records from the Veteran's treating clinician.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of August 13, 2018, for the award of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is granted. The Veteran also meets the schedular criteria for entitlement to TDIU prior to June 1, 2023.
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