The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection and increased ratings for various conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, overreactive bladder, and a headache disorder.
The deciding factor: The earliest date of receipt of claims or applications to reopen was July 16, 2007, which is also when the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder was reopened. For the headache disorder, the effective date cannot be earlier than the date of receipt of a claim for increase.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), Overreactive bladder, Headache disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25053958
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, chronic rhinitis, and obstructive sleep apnea. The headache claim was remanded for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) as it was not factually ascertainable that he was unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment prior to April 28, 2016.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims for tinnitus, a headache disorder, a foot disability, a left ankle disability, a low back disability, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and an acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disorders, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, neck, back, headache, right ankle, right knee, right shoulder, and right elbow disorders, penile disorder (erectile dysfunction), and sleep apnea, to correct a pre-decisional error by verifying the Veteran's duty status in January 2017 and obtaining additional medical opinions.
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