38 U.S.C. § 1702
Section 1702 · Presumption relating to psychosis
Amended 7 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Soyini v. Derwinski (1991)
Most recently applied in Ford v. Gober (November 1997)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Psychosis.—For the purposes of this chapter, any veteran of World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, or the Persian Gulf War who developed an active psychosis (1) within two years after discharge or release from the active military, naval, or air service, and (2) before July 26, 1949, in the case of a veteran of World War II, before February 1, 1957, in the case of a veteran of the Korean conflict, before May 8, 1977, in the case of a Vietnam era veteran, or before the end of the two-year period beginning on the last day of the Persian Gulf War, in the case of a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, shall be deemed to have incurred such disability in the active military, naval, or air service.
(b) Mental Illness.—For purposes of this chapter, any veteran of the Persian Gulf War who develops an active mental illness (other than psychosis) shall be deemed to have incurred such disability in the active military, naval, or air service if such veteran develops such disability—
(1) within two years after discharge or release from the active military, naval, or air service; and
(2) before the end of the two-year period beginning on the last day of the Persian Gulf War.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2008—Pub. L. 110–181, §1708(a)(2), substituted “Presumptions: psychosis after service in World War II and following periods of war; mental illness after service in the Persian Gulf War” for “Presumption relating to psychosis” in section catchline.
Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 110–181, §1708(a)(1), designated existing text as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).
1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 602 of this title as this section.
Pub. L. 102–25 substituted “the Vietnam era, or the Persian Gulf War” for “or the Vietnam era”, struck out “or” before “before May 8, 1977”, and inserted “or before the end of the two-year period beginning on the last day of the Persian Gulf War, in the case of a veteran of the Persian Gulf War,” after “Vietnam era veterans,”.
1986—Pub. L. 99–576 struck out “his” before “discharge”.
1982—Pub. L. 97–295 substituted “before February 1, 1957, in the case of a veteran of the Korean conflict, or before May 8, 1977,” for “or February 1, 1957, in the case of a veteran of the Korean conflict, or before the expiration of two years following termination of the Vietnam era”.
1967—Pub. L. 90–77 made the presumption relating to psychosis applicable to any veteran of the Vietnam era who developed an active psychosis within two years after his discharge from active service and before the expiration of two years following termination of the Vietnam era.
Effective Date of 1967 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–77 effective first day of first calendar month which begins more than ten days after Aug. 31, 1967, see section 405 of Pub. L. 90–77, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.