The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinion and needs further examination for service connection of psychiatric disorders.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not consider the Veteran's claim that his psychiatric problems are related to interactions with supervisors in service, and thus an additional examination is needed.
- Claimed conditions
- Unspecified Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19196736
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 19196736.
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 Veteran's service-connected PTSD with alcohol and cocaine use disorder was granted an increased initial rating of 100 percent, the schedular maximum. The claim for an earlier effective date prior to August 24, 2023 for the now-assigned 100 percent rating for PTSD was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and multiple musculoskeletal conditions but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including GAD, MDD, unspecified depressive disorder, and panic disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a rating of 70 percent for PTSD from September 19, 2016, to May 30, 2019, and from August 1, 2019.
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