The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining VA and private treatment records, scheduling a medical opinion, and readjudicating the claim.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric disabilities are being evaluated based on their likely etiology in relation to service events.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive disorder NOS, Polysubstance dependence (alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis), Borderline personality disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2016
- Citation
- 1613198
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 1613198.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for depressive disorder NOS and an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for tension headaches, but granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied service connection for a disorder to the cervix.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for depressive disorder NOS, granted service connection for erectile dysfunction secondary to the service-connected depressive disorder NOS, and granted Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for loss of use of a creative organ due to the service-connected depressive disorder NOS.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, borderline personality disorder, alcohol and opioid abuse disorder, depression, and anxiety due to military sexual trauma.
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