The Veteran's claim for service connection for Traumatic Brain Injury with Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type (also claimed as bipolar, manic depressive, mental condition, PTSD, and personality disorder) was granted in December 2016 effective October 5, 2006. The Board found no earlier effective date is permitted by law.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not file a formal or informal claim to reopen prior to the October 2006 claim to reopen and there was no evidence of a communication or treatment records that could be reasonably construed as a new claim for service connection for a psychiatric condition or TBI, either formal or informal, received after the January 1997 rating decision and prior to October 2006 claim to reopen.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic Brain Injury, Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19161411
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 19161411.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 a higher rating for PTSD and service connection for irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, and traumatic brain injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 20, 2007 for the grant of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder and increased ratings to 70% from March 27, 2020 to June 5, 2020, and 100% from June 5, 2020. The claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected traumatic brain injury, bilateral knee disabilities, and sinus disability prevented him from obtaining or retaining substantially gainful employment during the period on appeal prior to January 26, 2009.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 100 percent rating for PTSD and schizoaffective disorder based on the severity of symptoms that approximate total occupational and social impairment.
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