The Veteran's claim to reopen his previously denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability was granted by the Board in December 2013, but the effective date of this grant is being challenged. The Board found that new evidence (a private medical opinion) supported reopening the claim and granting service connection, but did not find these records relevant to the initial denial.
The deciding factor: The newly submitted evidence was considered material as it provided a different perspective on the onset of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, which led to the grant of service connection. However, this new evidence did not address the reason for the previous denial (lack of nexus), and thus was not relevant in determining an earlier effective date.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 24, 2018
- Citation
- 1829264
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 1829264.
What this means for you
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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 request to readjudicate the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability with alcohol and drug abuse is granted. The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence sufficient to readjudicate the claim has been received, but further development is needed due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding verification of reported deaths in service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for a low back condition and an acquired psychiatric disability are dismissed as procedural defects due to the overlapping nature of the appeals.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, finding that his claimed stressors did not meet the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD and concluding that there was no causal relationship between any current mental health condition and his military service.
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