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Board of Veterans' Appeals · Legacy series

Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mood disorder, and/or schizoaffective disorder, is remanded.

January 30, 2026Citation Nr. 26001444Docket 14-04 899va.gov source

  • Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, mood disorder, and/or schizoaffective disorderRemanded
  • Entitlement to service connection for a substance and/or alcohol use disorder, as secondary to an acquired psychiatric disorderRemanded

Board reasoning

The Board remanded for further development, including obtaining records related to stressors in Nam Phong, Thailand, and for an addendum opinion after new records are secured. It emphasized that substantial compliance with previous remand directives is needed to address the etiologies of the claimed disorders and to verify stressors, including a possible fatal overdose in 1973, per the June 2023 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR). The Board stressed that additional records and a medical opinion are required to determine whether any acquired psychiatric disorder began in service or is etiologically related to service, and to consider the Veteran's stressor evidence accordingly.

Issues

  • Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, mood disorder, and/or schizoaffective disorderRemanded
  • Entitlement to service connection for a substance and/or alcohol use disorder, as secondary to an acquired psychiatric disorderRemanded

Authorities

  • Monzingo v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 97Judicial notice used to acknowledge universal facts
  • Smith (Brady) v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 235Cited regarding judicial notice standards

Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.