The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disabilities, including paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, and schizoaffective disorder, are related to service. A new VA examination or addendum is needed.
The deciding factor: The examiner must provide an opinion on whether the Veteran’s acquired mental disorders clearly and unmistakably did not increase in severity during active service or if any increase was due to natural progression of the disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, schizoaffective disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19145653
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (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 19145653.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, schizoaffective disorder, and neurocognitive disorder is remanded due to a failure to provide a VA examination addressing whether the pre-existing psychiatric disorder was aggravated during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial rating of 50% for schizoaffective disorder is increased to 70% from June 22, 2009 to April 30, 2010 and from July 1, 2010 to August 18, 2020. A temporary total disability rating of 100% for hospital treatment due to schizoaffective disorder is granted from March 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010. The Veteran's entitlement to TDIU prior to August 18, 2020 is also granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Social Security Administration records need to be obtained and reviewed.
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