The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar and schizoaffective disorders, are found to be secondary to his service-connected PTSD. As a result, the claim for service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The combined opinions from September 2012 and May 2015 VA examinations support finding that the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms of schizoaffective disorder and bipolar type overlap such that all related symptoms are attributed to his service-connected PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- Bipolar Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 12, 2016
- Citation
- 1605581
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 1605581.
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 PTSD with bipolar disorder has resulted in total occupational and social impairment, warranting a 100% disability rating effective August 8, 2018.
- 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 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.
- 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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