The Board has determined that further development is required prior to adjudicating the appellant's claim of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder. The case is REMANDED to obtain additional medical records, verify the claimed stressor, and schedule the appellant for a VA psychiatric examination.
The deciding factor: Further development is needed due to incomplete information regarding the Veteran's claimed stressor and potential misrepresentation in search requests by the service department researchers.
- Claimed conditions
- psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2016
- Citation
- 1641164
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 1641164.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, were denied as the Veteran failed to report for necessary VA examinations without providing good cause.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, as there was no credible evidence supporting her claimed in-service stressors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss disability, and tinnitus to allow the RO to review additional evidence.
- Granted
Service connection is granted for sciatica of the right and left lower extremities as secondary to service-connected lumbar spine disability. Service connection is denied for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The Veteran's psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, and cervical spine disability are inextricably intertwined with the sciatica claims and will be remanded.
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