The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the increased rating of 50 percent for bipolar disorder is dismissed. The appeal for a higher rating than 50 percent for bipolar disorder prior to June 26, 2017 is denied. The Veteran's entitlement to individual unemployability based on service-connected disabilities is also denied.
The deciding factor: The effective date of the increased rating was not earlier than April 4, 2014 due to lack of timely appeal or submission of new and material evidence within one year of notification. The criteria for a higher rating were not met as the Veteran's symptoms did not meet the requirements for a rating higher than 50 percent.
- Claimed conditions
- Bipolar Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19124889
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19124889.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Granted
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the Veteran's PTSD and bipolar disorder, as well as a failure to provide an adequate VA examination prior to the rating decision.
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