The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection due to PTSD, major depressive disorder, and cognitive impairment. The decision found that there was no new evidence or legal basis to grant an earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the original denial of service connection in 1996 did not have any CUE, and the July 2010 regulatory amendment regarding stressor verification did not apply as the incident at issue did not involve fear of hostile or enemy forces. The current effective date already takes into account both the filing date of the most recent petition to reopen and evidence provided by a VA Compensation and Pension examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major depressive disorder, recurrent, severe without psychotic features, Cognitive impairment
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- May 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19138143
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (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 19138143.
What this means for you
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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.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD resulted in occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, warranting a 70% disability rating. The Veteran also met the criteria for a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
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