The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD and bilateral hearing loss. The case is remanded to obtain a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's hearing loss, as well as to address his claimed psychiatric disorders.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found normal hearing in both ears, which precludes any opinion on the relationship between the Veteran’s hearing loss and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Unspecified Psychosis, Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073527
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 PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom disorder, as well as presumptive service connection for basal cell carcinoma under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, right restless leg syndrome, left restless leg syndrome, an increased rating for psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, a left forehead surgical scar, and allergic rhinitis.
- Granted
The Board granted a staged disability rating of 70 percent for the service-connected generalized anxiety disorder from January 8, 2024, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the ratings of generalized anxiety disorder, right shoulder strain with AC joint osteoarthritis and AC joint separation, clavicle and/or scapula impairment, and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial increased rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability from March 8, 2010, to May 19, 2014, and denied a higher rating thereafter.
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