The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his panic disorder with agoraphobia was granted, and he is now rated at 70 percent effective from June 22, 2016.,Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected panic disorder with agoraphobia was also granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks have resulted in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, and mood.,Obstructive sleep apnea is found to be caused by the service-connected acquired psychiatric disability (panic disorder).
- Claimed conditions
- Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- December 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19192247
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · 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 19192247.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 100% rating for her psychiatric disabilities, as reducing it to 70% was improper.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the reduction in the disability evaluation for panic disorder from 70 percent to 50 percent, effective December 1, 2019, was improper and is void ab initio. The Veteran's service-connected panic disorder with agoraphobia remains at a 70 percent rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's ratings for right and left shoulder subluxation were restored to 20% effective September 1, 2019.,A staged increased rating of 70% was granted for panic disorder with agoraphobia from March 7, 2019, through October 10, 2022.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an acquired psychiatric disorder, upper back disability, and head injury residuals are being remanded due to the need for additional development including VA examinations.
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