The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, but the issues of service connection for a left shoulder disorder and bilateral hearing loss are remanded. The rating for bilateral plantar fasciitis with Morton's disease is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran provided credible evidence of in-service sexual assault which led to his current psychiatric condition. A VA examiner was requested to provide an opinion on the etiology of the acquired psychiatric disorder, and the Veteran’s service treatment records were reviewed for any mention of the alleged assault.
- Claimed conditions
- Other specified trauma and stressor related disorder, Depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19194071
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 19194071.
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 remands the Veteran's claims for additional VA examinations to properly evaluate the current severity of her disabilities.
- Denied
The appeal for higher ratings and effective dates for various conditions was denied, with the exception of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy which were granted an earlier effective date.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, currently diagnosed as other specified trauma and stressor related disorder and major depressive disorder.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder was granted a 70 percent disability rating from April 27, 2020 to August 15, 2022, and a TDIU was also granted.
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