The Board granted an earlier effective date of August 14, 2022, for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, alcohol use disorder, and cocaine use disorder.
The deciding factor: The Veteran had a diagnosis for an acquired psychiatric disability at the time of filing his claim on August 14, 2022, which allowed for an earlier effective date than the assigned April 9, 2023.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Alcohol use disorder, Cocaine use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- April 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25039099
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that his PTSD is related to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) during a period of ACDUTRA.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
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