The veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, currently characterized as bipolar disorder, was granted based on the evidence showing that his initial manifestation of the disorder occurred during service.
The deciding factor: The July 2007 medical opinion placed the evidence in equipoise regarding whether the veteran's initial manifestation of bipolar disorder was caused by use of illegal drugs or already present, leading to a grant of service connection for the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- psychiatric disorder, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 29, 2008
- Citation
- 0813991
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of a psychiatric disability to correct an error in not securing an adequate medical opinion.
- 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.
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