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| Home >> VA Claims Resources >> VA Claims >> VA General Counsel Precedent Opinions |
VA General Counsel Precedent Opinions |
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PREC 10-95 Use of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in Claims based on Mental Disorders
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PREC 10-95 Use of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in Claims based on Mental Disorders Citation: Vet. Aff. Op. Gen Couns. Prec. 10-95, VAOPGCPREC 10-95, 1995 QUESTION PRESENTED: To what extent must the Board of Veterans' Appeals employ the nomenclature, diagnostic criteria, and adaptive-func-tioning scale of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, in determining appeals involving issues of service connection and rating of mental disorders?
HELD: Sections 4.126 and 4.132 of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, which require that diagnoses of mental disorders conform to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (APA Manual), Third Edition (DSM-III) and establish the criteria for rating disabilities attributable to mental disorders based upon the psychiatric nomenclature and diagnostic criteria used in DSM-III, require that the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) use the DSM-III nomenclature and diagnostic criteria until such time as the regulations are amended. The BVA is not precluded from making reference to medical reports which employ the adaptive-functioning assessment scales of either DSM-III or the fourth edition of the APA Manual (DSM-IV). However, the utility of such reports may be limited by differences between the terminology and disability levels used in those scales and those employed in 38 C.F.R. § 4.132, the schedule for rating mental disorders. |
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