The Board has remanded the case for further development and an examination to determine if a current acquired psychiatric disability, such as PTSD, is present and whether it is at least as likely as not caused by or related to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's reported stressor of being caught in a traumatic storm during service may be considered for the purpose of diagnosing PTSD under DSM-5 criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic bilateral knee disorders, Chronic fatigue disorder, Traumatic brain injury
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19107342
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19107342.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of July 10, 2010, for the award of special monthly compensation based on need for regular aid and attendance due to residuals of traumatic brain injury under 38 U.S.C. 1114(t) is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied an increased rating for right knee patellar tendinitis and has remanded the issue of service connection for a traumatic brain injury.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU and SMC at the housebound rate are granted as of August 8, 2020 due to his service-connected psychiatric disorder preventing him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for residuals of a traumatic brain injury and granted service connection for right elbow olecranon bursitis. The Veteran's TBI is not considered to be related to an in-service fall, while his right elbow disability is found to have had its onset during service.
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