The Board has determined that the case must be remanded to obtain a medical opinion from a forensic psychiatrist or psychologist regarding whether the Appellant was insane at the time of his misconduct and discharge. The issue is related to service connection, but not about exposure to any specific hazard.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the competency of the examiners who provided opinions in this matter has been challenged by the claimant and questioned by multiple VA examiners, requiring a forensic psychiatrist or psychologist's opinion as per previous remand directives.
- Claimed conditions
- Mental Health Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2024
- Citation
- 24015885
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 24015885.
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 restored the TBI rating to 70%, effective July 1, 2019, as the reduction was improper. The CUE claim for a mental health disability and the TDIU claim were denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of May 3, 2017 for the Veteran's service connection for Individual Unemployability (TDIU) due to her mental health disability and PTSD. The decision is based on evidence showing that she was not unemployable until she filed her intent to file for TDIU in May 2017.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of TDIU was not timely appealed and thus, the December 2014 Rating Decision implicitly denied the claim. The Veteran's claim for increased rating for his mental health disability included a reasonable inference for a TDIU claim, which was also denied in the same decision.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal of his mental health disability claim is dismissed. The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for low back and bilateral foot disabilities.
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