Depression decisions — 2014

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining service treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's major depression with psychotic features, type II diabetes mellitus, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The left knee disability is not shown to be related to service.

The Board finds that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression, is due to service and grants service connection for this condition. The other issues are decided below.

The Veteran's PTSD resulted in occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform tasks, warranting a disability rating of 30 percent.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a psychiatric disability, including PTSD, and therefore service connection for such disabilities is denied.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of PTSD related to his service stressors and no other psychiatric disorder was caused or aggravated by an event, injury, or disease incurred during service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a BVA videoconference hearing. The issues are related to pension benefits and service connection for depression/anxiety as secondary to hepatitis C.

The Board has granted service connection for PTSD with MDD and tinnitus, but the other issues remain denied. The Veteran's claim of new and material evidence to reopen his bilateral leg disability including leg cramps is dismissed.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection for high cholesterol, sleep apnea, night sweats, PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disability (including major depressive disorder), fibromyalgia, and a bilateral leg disability have been dismissed due to the Veteran's request for withdrawal. The claims for a bilateral foot disability are not on appeal.

The Veteran's compensation benefits were suspended due to his failure to attend a VA examination and provide evidence of continued disability. The claim was considered abandoned, and he is not entitled to restoration of benefits from July 1975 through August 2008.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including obtaining the report of a VA psychiatric examination conducted on January 31, 2014. The case will be readjudicated after this additional evidence is received.

The Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder renders him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment, meeting the criteria for a TDIU.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for Major Depressive Disorder has been granted. The Board found that the evidence established a relationship between the current disorder and his military service, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.

The Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder has rendered him unable to secure and maintain gainful employment, warranting a TDIU.

The Board denied payment of attorney fees from past-due benefits granted in an April 2011 rating decision, as the March 2010 rating decision did not deny the Veteran's pending claims for TDIU or service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a 3-way videoconference hearing. The issues of service connection for various conditions are still pending.

The Veteran's service-connected Major Depressive Disorder is currently rated at 70 percent, effective March 15, 2012. The RO found that her symptoms have resulted in total occupational and social impairment.

The Board found that there is no competent and probative evidence linking the Veteran's current conditions to his in-service head injury, depression or dementia. As such, service connection for these conditions was denied.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development and consideration, including obtaining additional medical records and scheduling a VA psychiatric examination to reassess the severity of his Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

The Board is remanding the case for further development and consideration of whether any acquired psychiatric disability (other than personality disorder or dysthymia) diagnosed since February 2005, including anxiety/depression, depression and schizoid traits, chronic low grade depression and anxiety, alcohol abuse in remission, and/or persistent depressive disorder, is causally related to, or aggravated by, active service.