Lay Evidence

[Wings]

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BUCHANAN v. NICHOLSON [06/14/2006]

A decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims affirming a denial of claimant's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is vacated where the veterans claims court accepted a legally erroneous interpretation of statutory and regulatory provisions pertaining to a veteran's ability to prove service connection through competent lay evidence.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/fed/057174p.pdf

CONCLUSION

The Veterans Court erred by affirming the Board’s erroneous statutory and regulatory interpretation that lay evidence cannot be credible absent confirmatory clinical records to substantiate the facts described in that lay evidence. Accordingly, we vacate the Veterans Court decision and remand the case for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

VACATED and REMANDED