BVA Case 24016558: PTSD
BVAReal Board of Veterans' Appeals decision · April 17, 2024 · B. MULLINS
Conditions Claimed
PTSDPsychiatricBackSleep ApneaHipHeartGI
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
2026 base rates, all ratings (veteran alone)
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Issues on Appeal
PTSDPsychiatricBackSleep ApneaHipHeartGI
Why It Was Decided This Way
A grant for service connection for a disability requires: (1) a present disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship ("nexus") between the present disability and the in-service event, injury, or disease.
However, a disability, with no causal relationship ("nexus") to an in-service event can be considered service-connected by being proximately due to or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury.
To establish secondary service connection there must be (1) evidence of a current disability; (2) evidence of a service-connected disability; and (3) competent evidence establishing a link ("nexus") between the service-connected disability and the current disability.
2006) ("[T]he Board cannot determine that lay evidence lacks credibility merely because it is unaccompanied by contemporaneous medical evidence").
The examiner also noted that obesity was the main cause of OSA, but failed to address whether weight gain was an intermediate step between the Veteran's service-connected condition and development of OSA.
Moreover, the general explanation that OSA was caused by obesity and by the upper airway failing to maintain its patency during sleep, did not address the contentions that obesity was related to PTSD.
When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of an issue material to the determination of the matter, the Veteran shall be afforded the benefit of the doubt and prevail upon the issue.
However, the Board found this opinion was inadequate because it was based on the absence of evidence and failed to consider lay statements.
Authorities Cited
Regulations Cited (38 CFR / 38 USC)
Denial Type
Credibility|No Nexus|Duty To Assist|Inadequate Exam
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