The Board has determined that the VA examination in December 2023 was inadequate and requires a new examination to determine if any acquired psychiatric disorder is related to service.
The deciding factor: The examination did not provide an opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's schizoaffective disorder or his GAD, which could be relevant to the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, generalized anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2024
- Citation
- A24049375
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 A24049375.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
- Granted
The Veteran's schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, resulted in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas from November 15, 2016, to August 10, 2021.,Beginning August 11, 2021, the disability caused total occupational and social impairment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain and neck pain, finding no current disability. The claim for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is remanded due to inadequate consideration of all potential exposures.,The claim for an acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD) is also remanded due to a lack of development of the Veteran's therapist's records.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeals for the claims of service connection for insomnia disorder with generalized anxiety disorder, pes planus, calcaneonavicular coalition bilateral feet secondary to right ankle sprain, and pes planus, calcaneonavicular coalition bilateral feet secondary to left ankle pain.
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