The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to May 1, 2017 for the grant of service connection for social anxiety disorder is denied. The Board has also remanded his claims for service connection for a skin condition and for an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent for social anxiety disorder.
The deciding factor: The effective date assigned was the day following the Veteran’s discharge from active service, which does not allow for an earlier effective date as per VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- social anxiety disorder, skin condition (irritant dermatitis, acrochordon)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146384
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,738 · Granted: 17% (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 19146384.
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 Veteran's claim for a higher rating and an earlier effective date for service connection of major depression disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, and avoidant personality disorder was denied. The Board found that the earliest effective date is February 25, 2020, as this is when the Veteran filed his intent to file a claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error and remands the case for a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's psychiatric disability is related to her in-service stressor.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders. A VA examination is needed to provide a medical opinion on this matter.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a psychiatric disorder to obtain an adequate VA medical opinion.
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