The Board has granted the reopening of the claim as to whether the appellant's character of discharge is a bar to payment of VA benefits, and remanded for further development including obtaining medical opinions regarding the appellant's mental state at the time of his discharge.
The deciding factor: The new evidence submitted by the appellant raises a reasonable possibility of establishing that he was insane at the time of committing offenses leading to his discharge under other than honorable conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Psychosis, Insanity
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130479
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19130479.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board found that the Appellant was insane at the time of his misconduct leading to discharge, lifting any bars to benefits. Therefore, he is entitled to receive VA benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the issue of whether the appellant's discharge from service constitutes a bar to VA benefits is remanded due to an error in fulfilling VA's duty to assist not to seek a medical opinion on the matter of insanity. The appellant was found to have received treatment for severe anxiety and continued mental health treatment throughout his active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the issue of whether the appellant's discharge from service constitutes a bar to VA benefits is remanded due to an error in fulfilling VA's duty to assist not to seek a medical opinion on the matter of insanity. The appellant was found to have received treatment for severe anxiety and continued mental health treatment throughout his active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for further development, including verification of in-service stressors and toxic exposure assessments. The Board also requests a VA examination to address the etiology of his diagnosed mental health conditions and vertigo.
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