The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disability, including schizophrenia, is being remanded due to the need for additional medical examination and review of existing records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the service-connected disability of schizophrenia and/or depression in the report, which could affect the determination of appropriate ratings.
- Claimed conditions
- Schizophrenia, residual type, Depressive disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- October 28, 2020
- Citation
- A20016152
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 A20016152.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional medical opinions are needed to address the Veteran's psychiatric disorders and their relationship to service or service-connected TBI. The case is therefore being remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not cause him to be unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation prior to April 8, 2003.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left ear hearing loss, tinnitus, and diabetes mellitus type 2 due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. Service connection for right ear hearing loss was denied as there is no current disability. The Veteran's depressive disorder NOS is found to be related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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