The Board has remanded the issue of service connection for a psychiatric disability, including as secondary to service-connected disabilities due to insufficient evidence to rebut the presumption of regularity in the mailing of the January 2017 notification of the September 2016 rating decision.
The deciding factor: VA failed to timely notify the Veteran's representative that a rating decision had been issued on April 5, 2017, which was not received by the Veteran’s representative and led to an untimely Notice of Disagreement (NOD).
- Claimed conditions
- Psychiatric Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 24, 2020
- Citation
- 20075017
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability, psychiatric disorder, lumbar spine disability, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of June 23, 2023, for the award of a 50 percent rating for a psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates for service connection and special monthly compensation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for acne and remanded claims for service connection for bilateral pes planus, ED, allergic rhinitis, and a psychiatric disorder for readjudication with new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for the Veteran's psychiatric disorder and remanded issues related to increased ratings for hand and wrist disabilities and service connection for OSA.
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