CAVC Case 93-1222: Psychiatric
CAVCReal U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) decision · December 9, 1998 · HOLDAWAY
This is a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims — the federal court that reviews Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, one level above the Board. Court decisions can vacate, reverse, or affirm what the Board did.
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 |
Conditions Claimed
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Issues on Appeal
PsychiatricHipHeartEye
Why It Was Decided This Way
The appellant alleges in his statement of the issues (1) that the Board erred by failing to remand the heart condition claim to a VA regional office (VARO) to obtain additional medical records, and (2) that the Secretary's failure to apply the statutory presumption of soundness or of aggravation constituted new and material evidence to reopen his nervous condition claim.
On appeal to the BVA, the Board determined that the appellant had not submitted new and material evidence to reopen his claim for service connection of a nervous disorder.
The BVA concluded that the appellant's claim for service connection of a heart condition was well grounded but that a preponderance of the evidence was against service connection.
For a claim to be well grounded, generally a claimant must submit each of the following: (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical evidence, or in certain circumstances lay evidence, of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the in-service injury or disease and the current disability.
303(b) (1997), if a condition was noted in service or during an 5 applicable presumption period, a claimant may satisfy the well-grounded-claim requirement by submitting evidence of postservice continuity of symptomatology and medical or, in appropriate circumstances, lay evidence of a nexus between the post-service symptomatology and the current disability.
The Court's word parsing in some of its medical nexus cases has created a unclear picture for ascertaining what degree of certainty is necessary in a medical opinion in order to 7 establish a plausible medical nexus.
609, 610-11 (1992) (holding that a doctor's opinion that the veteran's service-connected condition "may or may not" have contributed to his cause of death was inadequate nexus evidence to well grounded the claim), with Alemany v.
518, 519 (1996) (holding that a medical opinion that said, "It is possible that the stress of war may have unleashed a process that was dormant and latent[,] and it is possible that he would have never in his life developed convulsions," if not for the stress of the war, was sufficient nexus evidence to well ground a claim), Molloy v.
Authorities Cited
Regulations Cited (38 CFR / 38 USC)
Denial Type
No Nexus|Not New Material|Preponderance Against
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