The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, specifically his unspecified depressive disorder and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. The examiner is requested to provide an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that these conditions are related to the Veteran's military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the previous opinions insufficient due to inadequate rationale and failure to address the nature of the delayed onset of the Veteran’s psychiatric symptomatology or his calmness when discussing his Vietnam experiences in connection with treatment at the Vet Center.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified depressive disorder, adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19165186
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 19165186.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for TDIU and DEA, but denied increased ratings for various service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for the Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder, finding that her symptoms more closely approximated those required for such a rating.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date and a higher initial rating for the service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, finding that the earliest possible effective date had been assigned.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, mood disorder, and unspecified depressive disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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