The Board has remanded the case due to uncertainty about whether the Veteran's diagnosed psychiatric disabilities are related to service. A new VA examination is needed to clarify this issue.
The deciding factor: The examiner must determine if the current diagnoses are related to in-service stressors or events, and provide a clinical basis for any disagreement with previous diagnoses.
- Claimed conditions
- mood disorder, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, agoraphobia with panic attacks, posttraumatic stress disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19131536
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 19131536.
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 a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for depression, PTSD, and an anxiety disorder due to the lack of a current diagnosis.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for anxiety disorder and denied service connection for hearing loss. The claims for service connection for GERD, right ankle limitations, and sinusitis were remanded for further development.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a temporary total evaluation because of hospital treatment in excess of 21 days for service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder was withdrawn by the Veteran's representative and is therefore dismissed.
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