The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including bipolar and/or schizoaffective disorder, to correct duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: The March 2022 VA examiner's opinion was inadequate as it did not provide a rationale regarding the etiology of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25045242
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed alternatively as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder, due to an inadequate VA examiner's opinion and a failure to fulfill the duty to assist in obtaining relevant medical records.
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