The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD and depressive disorder with alcohol abuse and polysubstance abuse. The claims are being remanded due to inadequate examination reports and failure to consider evidence of sexual assault.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not provide a clear opinion on whether any acquired psychiatric disorders clearly and unmistakably existed prior to service or were aggravated by service, nor did they adequately address the Veteran's claim regarding alleged in-service sexual assault.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19136955
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 19136955.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for PTSD has been dismissed as the claim was granted and effective from February 22, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether injuries sustained in a November 2001 incident were in the line of duty. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is also remanded due to its interdependence with the line of duty issue.
- Granted
The Veteran's psychiatric disorder, specifically depressive disorder, is rated at 70 percent effective from August 3, 2021. The claim for a higher rating remains denied.
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