The veteran's claim for an effective date prior to September 20, 2004 for the grant of service connection for a mood disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia was denied.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence is against the veteran's claim as the initial claims were denied in unappealed rating decisions from May 1997 and May 2003, and no new and material evidence was received prior to September 20, 2004.
- Claimed conditions
- mood disorder, not otherwise specified, panic disorder with agoraphobia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 27, 2009
- Citation
- 0902811
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, mood disorder, and unspecified depressive disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a mood disorder as secondary to the service-connected headaches or tinnitus, finding no probative evidence linking the two conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied an increased rating for major depressive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia, finding that the Veteran's symptoms did not meet the criteria for a disability rating in excess of 50 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including obtaining private treatment records and scheduling VA examinations.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.