The Board has remanded the cases for a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including depressive disorder NOS, is related to his service or if his alcoholism is due to an acquired mental disorder. The examiner will also assess whether the current level of severity of the Veteran's existing 10% rating for major depressive disorder should be considered.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner in the previous opinion was not provided with accurate instructions and may have misunderstood the context, leading to a flawed assessment.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Depressive disorder NOS
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19116101
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 19116101.
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 Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a right knee disorder, and a lumbar spine disorder.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.