The Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and TDIU were denied. The Board found that the effective date of the award of service connection for PTSD could not be earlier than September 18, 2013, when the Veteran first met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The claim for an earlier effective date was denied as without legal merit. The appeal is remanded to obtain additional evidence and determine whether the Veteran is unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that no earlier effective date could be assigned because the Veteran did not meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD until September 18, 2013.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Left Knee Instability, Tinnitus, Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the Left Knee, Left Knee Scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19119082
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 19119082.
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 service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
- Denied
The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50% since March 23, 2004. The Board found that a higher rating is not warranted prior to February 15, 2005 due to the severity of his symptoms and their impact on his social and occupational functioning.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and any acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his current mental health conditions and his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
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