The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bipolar disorder was denied as there is no evidence of a prior informal or formal claim filed before April 22, 2005.
The deciding factor: There is no record of communication from the Veteran received prior to April 22, 2005 that can be construed as a claim of entitlement to benefits for bipolar disorder. Consequently, there is no basis under law for granting an earlier effective date.
- Claimed conditions
- Bipolar Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 15, 2014
- Citation
- 1440951
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 1440951.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD with bipolar disorder has resulted in total occupational and social impairment, warranting a 100% disability rating effective August 8, 2018.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, and for a right knee condition are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors. The AOJ must attempt to verify the claimed stressor events and provide a VA examination.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and depressive disorder, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are at least as likely as not attributable to his active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the Veteran's PTSD and bipolar disorder, as well as a failure to provide an adequate VA examination prior to the rating decision.
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