The Board has remanded the issues of rating higher than 70 percent for anxiety disorder, effective date for tinnitus service connection, and TDIU. The Veteran's psychiatric condition is currently rated at 70 percent disabling. An effective date of November 2, 2016, but not earlier, was granted for the award of service connection for tinnitus. The Board found that the Veteran meets the criteria for a TDIU based on her service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric condition is rated at 70 percent disabling and does not meet the criteria for a higher rating as it does not result in total occupational and social impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified anxiety disorder, depressive disorder due to Raynaud’s syndrome and scleroderma disease with depressive features, severe alcohol use disorder, unspecified insomnia disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- February 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19114461
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 19114461.
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 service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder alone warrants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), and he has additional service-connected disabilities rated at least 60 percent. The Board grants special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate.
- Granted
The Veteran's anxiety and depressive disorders were rated at a 70 percent disability rating effective May 6, 2015.,Effective May 6, 2015, the Veteran was granted an earlier effective date for DEA benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD, memory loss, a sleep disorder, and uncontrollable alcohol disorder), is being remanded due to the need for a medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, kleptomania, and PTSD is being remanded due to the AOJ's failure to obtain medical records from his periods of incarceration or a medical opinion regarding his diagnoses.
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