The Board has determined that the veteran is entitled to an effective date of July 21, 1992 for the receipt of a claim for an increased rating for depression. The issues remaining are whether a compensable rating is warranted for depression from July 21, 1992 through January 29, 2001; and entitlement to an effective date for the grant of service connection and a compensable rating for PTSD prior to January 30, 2001.
The deciding factor: The veteran's claim was previously denied due to lack of evidence supporting earlier claims. The Board has now determined that VA medical records from 1984 and 1985 constitute an 'informal' request for increase in benefits, which must be considered as a claim under the constructive possession doctrine.
- Claimed conditions
- depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 8, 2007
- Citation
- 0717306
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 0717306.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to July 1, 2016. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating due to occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. For TDIU, the Veteran had multiple service-connected disabilities but his education and work experience were sufficient for sedentary or light labor employment.
- Granted
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to September 27, 2017. From September 27, 2017, the rating for depression increased to 70 percent.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were dismissed due to the death of the appellant. The issues related to service connection for various conditions and disability ratings.
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