The Board finds that the character of the Appellant's discharge from service is not a bar to benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Appellant.
The deciding factor: The opinion provided by Dr. J.M., along with lay statements, permits application of the 'benefit-of-the-doubt' rule, finding that at the time of committing the offenses which led to his other than honorable discharge, the appellant was experiencing a prolonged deviation from his normal method of behavior such that he is considered insane for VA purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2017
- Citation
- 1721880
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 1721880.
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.
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- 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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