The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lower back disability was dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeal prior to the Board making a decision. The claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and bilateral hearing loss are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the lower back disability, leaving only the issues of acquired psychiatric disorders and bilateral hearing loss for further review.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back disability, acquired psychiatric disorder (depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, avoidant personality disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19116283
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 19116283.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed alternatively as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, due to an inadequate VA examiner's opinion and a failure to fulfill the duty to assist in obtaining relevant medical records.
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