The Board remands the matter for an additional examination to confirm all diagnoses of current psychiatric disorders and obtain etiology opinions that consider the Veteran's personality disorder.
The deciding factor: The December 2020 VA examination did not diagnose the Veteran with schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder, which are previously diagnosed conditions. The Board finds these medical opinions inadequate as they are conclusory without explanation for how the examiner came to this diagnosis and why the Veteran's diagnosis appears to have changed.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder, personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25050585
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 913 · Granted: 41% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A25050585.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran's bipolar disorder was rated at 50% and then reduced to 30%. The Board has now granted a 70% rating effective November 23, 2021, based on the improvement in her symptoms.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, schizoaffective disorder, and neurocognitive disorder is remanded due to a failure to provide a VA examination addressing whether the pre-existing psychiatric disorder was aggravated during service.
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