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Board of Veterans' Appeals · AMA series

A rating greater than 70 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is denied.

July 30, 2026Citation Nr. A26069960Docket 210923-188947va.gov source

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) disability ratingDenied
  • Total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilityGranted
  • Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefitsGranted
  • Right knee arthritis, limitation of flexionDismissed
DecisionAnalysis

Board reasoning

The Board denied a rating greater than 70 percent for PTSD, but granted an earlier effective date of September 20, 2019 for TDIU due to PTSD and for DEA eligibility, citing the Veteran’s persistent but non-total occupational and social impairment and the record showing unemployability tied to PTSD among other factors. It also granted withdrawal of the right knee issue on the record after the April 2025 hearing, concluding no pending appellate review remains for that issue.

Issues

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) disability ratingDenied
  • Total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilityGranted
  • Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefitsGranted
  • Right knee arthritis, limitation of flexionDismissed

Authorities

  • Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009)Reasoning about early TDIU effective date based on continuous pursuit
  • Gonzales v. West, 218 F.3d 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2000)Holistic analysis of mental disorder symptoms under the General Formula
  • Bankhead v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 10Holistic analysis of unlisted symptoms for rating
  • Mauerhan v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 436 (2002)Guidance on considering unlisted symptoms
  • Ray v. Wilkie, 31 Vet. App. 58Assessing economic and non-economic factors for TDIU

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