The appeal to reopen the claim for service connection for right elbow pain is dismissed. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is granted. The claims for bilateral knee disability and sleep disturbance are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal to reopen the claim for service connection for right elbow pain during a hearing before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA). For the other issues, the BVA found that there was sufficient evidence to grant service connection based on direct service connection and consistent with fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Claimed conditions
- Right elbow pain, Acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD), Bilateral knee condition, Sleep disturbance
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2018
- Citation
- 18108664
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 18108664.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board finds the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran has an acquired psychiatric disorder related to service, particularly given inconsistencies in his statements and lack of combat service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received to warrant readjudicating the appellant's claim of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death. The case is remanded for further development, including obtaining medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA decision of February 2020 is not final and remands the cases for further development.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis and DDD was granted effective August 29, 2022. Service connection was established for vitreous syneresis / vitreous floaters of both eyes. The claims for service connection for refractive error of both eyes (myopia and astigmatism), bilateral hearing loss disability, residuals of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), obstructive sleep apnea, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD) were all denied.
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