The Board has decided that the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and depression, needs to be remanded due to incomplete in-service records and the need for a supplemental VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: Incomplete in-service mental health treatment records are needed to assess whether the Veteran’s current psychiatric disorder is related to service stressors.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Depression
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19196156
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 19196156.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that his PTSD is related to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) during a period of ACDUTRA.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
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