Board reasoning
The Board granted PTSD and the dental/oral condition as secondary to PTSD, and denied athlete's foot. Other claims were remanded for further development due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors and need for additional medical opinions, including the right shoulder, lumbar spine, and sleep apnea, as well as TDIU. In recharacterizing the psychiatric issue to include MDD, the Board evaluated corroborated in-service stressors for PTSD and found a causal link to current PTSD based on the February 2020 VA examination, while noting the need to address outstanding private records and evaluate secondary effects on dental health and overall employability.
Issues
- athlete's footDenied
- acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD and MDD)Granted
- dental and oral condition secondary to PTSD (jaw clenching, bruxism)Granted
- right shoulder disabilityRemanded
- lumbar spine disability (degenerative arthritis)Remanded
- sleep apneaRemanded
- TDIURemanded
Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.