The Veteran's claim to reopen service connection for a psychiatric disability, including polysubstance abuse disorder and bipolar disorder, is granted. The appeal to reopen service connection for a left knee and shin condition has been withdrawn.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the previous denial supports the Veteran's claim that his behavioral symptoms began in service, raising a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- polysubstance abuse disorder, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19195845
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 19195845.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed alternatively as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, due to an inadequate VA examiner's opinion and a failure to fulfill the duty to assist in obtaining relevant medical records.
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