CAVC Case 95-1071: Psychiatric
CAVCReal U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) decision · November 20, 1997 · NEBEKER, Chief Judge
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
PsychiatricBackEyeHypertension
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Issues on Appeal
PsychiatricBackEyeHypertension
Why It Was Decided This Way
In response to the veteran's repeated requests for compensation at a wartime rate, the RO informed him in August 1989 that he would have to submit new and material evidence to demonstrate that his service-connected schizophrenic reaction was incurred during wartime.
The Board noted that it could not determine whether a March 1958 letter from the RO to the veteran, awarding service connection for the condition in question, contained a statement that compensation was to be paid at a peacetime rate, and that if the veteran had not then been so informed the issue needed to be adjudicated de novo and did not require new and material evidence to reopen, as the RO had concluded in 1989.
The Board found no evidence suggesting a psychiatric disability prior to December 1955 and therefore denied compensation at a wartime rate.
Similarly, "'[r]esolution of the question of whether the Board accurately determined the effective date requires the Court to decide whether the Board erred in its factfinding.
The Court reviews BVA factfinding under a "clearly erroneous" standard; "if there is a 'plausible' basis in the record for the factual determinations of the BVA, .
For a service-connection claim to be well grounded, there generally must be (1) medical evidence of current disability; (2) medical, 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 a current disability.
Where the determinative issue involves either medical etiology (such as with respect to a nexus between a current condition and an in-service disease or injury) or a medical diagnosis (such as with respect to a current disability), competent medical evidence is required to fulfill the well-grounded-claim requirement of section 5107(a) that the claim be "plausible" or "probable", Grottveit v.
In such a case -- where the ROA is devoid of any competent medical evidence linking the veteran's schizophrenic reaction to his wartime service -- the Court cannot conclude that the Board was clearly erroneous in concluding that the factual evidence presented did not indicate that the veteran's condition was incurred during his wartime service.
Authorities Cited
Regulations Cited (38 CFR / 38 USC)
Denial Type
No Nexus|Not New Material
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