Citation Nr: A21019151 Decision Date: 12/01/21 Archive Date: 12/01/21 DOCKET NO. 200521-87435 DATE: December 1, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to an effective date prior to January 14, 2013, for the award of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In a decision dated November 14, 2012, the Board denied the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. 2. On January 14, 2013, the Veteran's informal claim for service connection for PTSD was received by VA. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The November 14, 2012, Board decision denying the Veteran service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is final. 38 U.S.C. § 7104. 2. The criteria for entitlement to an effective date prior to January 14, 2013, for the award of service connection for PTSD have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5110, 7104; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.400. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from January 1986 to May 1988. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2018 rating decision of a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This rating decision was issued under the legacy system and granted the Veteran service connection for PTSD, with a 70 percent initial rating effective January 14, 2013. In October 2018, the Veteran filed a Notice of Disagreement which, in part, disagreed with the effective date assigned for this award. In December 2018, the Veteran opted into the modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), by submitting a Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) election form and selecting the higher-level review (HLR) lane. The agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) issued a RAMP HLR decision in May 2020, which is the decision on appeal. In the May 2020 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the RAMP opt-in. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. Entitlement to an effective date prior to January 14, 2013, for the award of service connection for PTSD The Veteran seeks an effective date prior to January 14, 2013, for the award of service connection for PTSD. He asserts he previously filed service connection claims for a psychiatric disability, and an effective date back to those prior claims is warranted. The effective date of an award of benefits is generally the date on which the claim that resulted in the award was filed. 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a). If an award is based on the submission of new and material evidence, the effective date is the later of the date of receipt of the claim to reopen or the date entitlement arose. 38 C.F.R. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(q)(1). A rating decision assigning an effective date becomes final absent a timely challenge to that decision. See 38 U.S.C. § 7105. Once a rating decision becomes final, a claimant may attempt to overcome its finality by requesting a revision of the decision based on clear and unmistakable evidence (CUE) or by filing a claim to reopen based upon new and material evidence. Cook v. Principi, 318 F.3d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2002) (en banc). Only a request for revision based on CUE can result in the assignment of an effective date for the award of disability benefits earlier than the application date of his claim to reopen. 38 C.F.R. § 5110(a); see also Leonard v. Nicholson, 405 F.3d 1333, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2005) ("absent a showing of CUE [a claimant] cannot receive disability payments for a time frame earlier than the application date of his claim to reopen, even with new evidence supporting an earlier disability date"). In the present case, the Veteran had previously filed a service connection claim for a psychiatric disability, as he has asserted. A VA Form 21-526, Veteran's Application for Compensation or Pension, was received by VA on April 29, 1993. On this form, the Veteran sought service connection for "alcoholism/mental hygiene." Service connection for a psychiatric disability was subsequently denied in a December 1993 rating decision. The Veteran subsequently initiated and perfected an appeal of this determination. Following a Board remand and additional development, the appeal was returned to the Board. In a January 2007 decision, the Board denied service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include PTSD. The Veteran appealed this denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a January 2009 memorandum decision, the Court vacated the Board's January 2007 denial and remanded the issue for further consideration. The appeal was then remanded by the Board on multiple occasions for additional development. In a decision dated November 14, 2012, the Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. Next, the Board issued an August 12, 2016, decision which denied the Veteran service connection for a psychiatric disability other than PTSD. The Veteran did not appeal either the November 2012 or August 2016 Board decisions, and they are thus final. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104. Additionally, the Board, in a July 9, 2020, decision, denied the Veteran's motion to revise or reverse the November 2012 Board decision based on clear and unmistakable error. Also, in a July 13, 2020, decision, the Board denied the Veteran's motion to revise or reverse the August 2016 Board decision based on clear and unmistakable error. The Veteran appealed the Board's July 9, 2020, decision to the Court; however, in a July 2021 memorandum decision, the Court affirmed the Board's denial. Thus, the November 2012 and August 2016 Board decisions remain final. On January 14, 2013, VA received an informal claim for service connection for PTSD. Service connection was subsequently granted by the Board in an April 2018 rating decision, and the RO made this award effective from January 14, 2013, the date of receipt of the pending claim. As no prior unadjudicated claim is of record, the Board finds the proper effective date has been assigned by the RO and an earlier effective date is not warranted. While the Veteran's representative has asserted that an effective date back to the April 1993 claim is warranted, that claim was denied within the November 2012 and August 2016 Board decisions, and those decisions are final, as discussed above. No other pending claim for a psychiatric disability prior to January 14, 2013, is of record. In conclusion, the preponderance of the evidence is against the award of an effective date prior to January 14, 2013, for the award of service connection for PTSD. As a preponderance of the evidence is against the award of earlier effective dates, the benefit of the doubt doctrine is not applicable in the instant appeal. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); Ortiz v. Principi, 274 F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2001). Jenna Brant Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Thomas D. Jones, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.