The Board remands the issues of service connection for substance abuse disorder, evaluation of anxiety disorder, and TDIU due to insufficient evidence regarding causation or aggravation.
The deciding factor: Insufficient medical evidence exists to determine whether the Veteran's substance abuse disorder is caused or aggravated by his service-connected anxiety disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- substance abuse disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2020
- Citation
- 20064233
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 Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's appeal for service connection and increased rating claims due to a late filing of the appeal request.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, schizophrenia, and substance abuse disorder, for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a psychiatric condition, including PTSD, to obtain an addendum opinion and outstanding treatment records.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.