The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, a skin disorder of the left forehead and lower jawline, and a heart disorder. The Board found no current diagnosis of PTSD or any other psychiatric disorders in the record. For the skin disorder, the VA examiner determined it was not related to herbicide exposure. For the heart disorder, the VA examiner found cardiomyopathy but did not find ischemic heart disease.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence does not support a current diagnosis of PTSD or any other psychiatric disorders in the Veteran's record. The skin disorder is not linked to herbicide exposure as there was no definitive association with it. For the heart disorder, cardiomyopathy was found but not ischemic heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Skin disorder of the left forehead and lower jawline, Heart disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20007286
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,548 · 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 20007286.
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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 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD resulted in occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, warranting a 70% disability rating. The Veteran also met the criteria for a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
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