The Board remands the service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to correct a duty to assist error, as the March 2021 medical opinion does not provide an adequate rationale regarding whether any current acquired psychiatric disability had its onset in service or is otherwise related to service.
The deciding factor: The March 2021 medical opinion is inadequate because it did not consider the Veteran's lay evidence of ongoing symptoms and provided no separate opinions for each diagnosed psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized anxiety disorder, Adjustment disorder with depressed mood, Acute, and major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2024
- Citation
- A24065123
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 Board granted an effective date of May 9, 2022, for the grant of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder with generalized anxiety disorder, other specified depressive disorder, and alcohol use disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied an increased rating higher than 70 percent for the Veteran's psychiatric disorder, finding that his symptoms did not more closely approximate total occupational and social impairment.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for TDIU, DEA benefits, and a finding of TDIU based solely on generalized anxiety disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied an effective date earlier than April 9, 2024, for the assignment of a 70 percent evaluation for insomnia disorder with generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder.
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