The Board has remanded the case due to deficiencies in the January 2021 VA opinion, which did not address whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder pre-existed service or was aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The examiner only addressed the Veteran's reported in-service marital discord without considering her in-service psychiatric symptoms and found insufficient evidence to suggest that her depressive symptoms are at least as likely as not incurred in the military.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (anxiety and depression)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2026
- Citation
- A26022330
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 A26022330.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent disability rating for the service-connected headache disorder, which is the maximum schedular disability rating.
- Partly granted
The Board denied several claims for increased ratings and service connection, while granting others.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a back injury, and facial injury. The claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder was remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for hypertension but has remanded the claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to outstanding medical records.
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