The Board remands the case for further development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's bipolar and mood disorders are secondary to her service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: The opinion from the 2015 VA examiner was found internally inconsistent, necessitating a new opinion on remand.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder, mood disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2025
- Citation
- 25005490
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 granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, mood disorder, and unspecified depressive disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
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