The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorder due to a lack of credible evidence supporting the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressors.
The deciding factor: There was no credible evidence corroborating the Veteran's reported in-service stressors, including being injected with drugs while sleeping and suffering burns. The Board found that participation in combat could not be established, and thus the Veteran's PTSD diagnosis did not meet the criteria for service connection as it was not based on a verified stressor from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Anxiety Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 31, 2009
- Citation
- 0928711
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 0928711.
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 has remanded the case due to insufficient findings regarding PTSD and depression, requiring a new VA examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial ratings for anxiety disorder and TBI were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to December 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no earlier claim document in the claims file and the Veteran did not timely perfect an appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in the AOJ's handling of the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder, and depression. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's claimed stressor and obtain medical opinions regarding the diagnoses and their relation to service.
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