The Board granted an effective date of January 20, 1995, for the award of service connection for paranoid schizophrenia.
The deciding factor: The Court held that the Veteran's initial claim remained pending due to the RO's failure to issue a statement of the case in response to his 1997 notice of disagreement. The proper effective date is based on the date the claim was received by the RO, January 20, 1995.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic paranoid schizophrenia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0908197
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 499 · Granted: 18% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0908197.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's chronic paranoid schizophrenia is manifested by symptoms associated with a 100 percent rating such as persistent delusions and suicidal ideation, resulting in total social and occupational impairment. The maximum 100 percent rating is granted for the period after September 25, 2015.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic paranoid schizophrenia was denied in October 1981. The Board found that the effective date of the award cannot be prior to July 14, 2021.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected chronic paranoid schizophrenia is granted. The claim for a sleep disorder is denied as there is no current diagnosis of a free-standing sleep disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to lack of substantial compliance with previous directives and the need for updated VA medical records. A new examination is required to determine if the Veteran's chronic paranoid schizophrenia manifested during service or within one year after discharge.
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