The Board has granted service connection for PTSD and remanded the issues of service connection for a right knee disability and a right foot disability, to include a fifth metatarsal fracture.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lay statements about her in-service sexual assault are credible and consistent with evidence of behavior changes following the claimed assault. The medical evidence supports a nexus between the Veteran’s claimed in-service military sexual trauma and her current PTSD diagnosis.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Right Knee Disability, Right Foot Disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20001337
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 20001337.
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 Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50% since March 23, 2004. The Board found that a higher rating is not warranted prior to February 15, 2005 due to the severity of his symptoms and their impact on his social and occupational functioning.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and any acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his current mental health conditions and his military service.
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