The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, as secondary to neck and tongue cancer. The claim was also denied on a direct basis due to lack of evidence of a current diagnosis.
The deciding factor: Service connection is not warranted because the primary disability (neck and tongue cancer) is not service connected, and there is no persuasive evidence that the acquired psychiatric disorder is related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2023
- Citation
- A23028746
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 A23028746.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there is no evidence linking his current mental health condition to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as the stressors could not be verified, and there is no evidence of fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA medical opinions provided prior to the March 2025 rating decision on appeal are based on incorrect premises and need to be reconsidered.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to verify an in-service stressor and not affording a VA examination.
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