The Veteran's claim of service connection for schizoaffective disorder was granted with an effective date of March 11, 2009. The appeal regarding the earlier effective date for hiatal hernia is still pending.
The deciding factor: The Board found new and material evidence in the form of a positive nexus opinion from Dr. W.P.S., linking the Veteran's diagnosed schizophrenia to service.
- Claimed conditions
- schizoaffective disorder, anxiety neurosis, schizophrenia, nervous disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- January 11, 2023
- Citation
- 23001770
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 699 · Granted: 12% (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 23001770.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran's schizophrenia is rated at 70 percent, indicating significant impairment in work and social functioning.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for an effective date prior to August 18, 2016, for a 100 percent disability rating for schizophrenia and for spousal SMC for aid and attendance. The Veteran's claim was erroneously adjudicated by the AOJ and constitutes a free-standing earlier effective date claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, schizoaffective disorder, and neurocognitive disorder is remanded due to a failure to provide a VA examination addressing whether the pre-existing psychiatric disorder was aggravated during service.
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