Depression decisions — 2015

The Board found no evidence of a chronic back disability during service and denied the Veteran's claim for service connection.,The Board also found no evidence of a chronic psychiatric disorder during service and denied the Veteran's claim for service connection.

The Veteran's tinnitus had its onset during service and is related to in-service noise exposure. The Board finds that the Veteran has a current psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety, which likely had its onset during service. The right and left knee disabilities are not established as having their onset during service.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression and anxiety, finding that there was no medical evidence to support a link between the Veteran's military service and his current conditions.

The Board has determined that there is no current competent diagnosis of major depression or chronic adjustment disorder and there is no evidence linking the Veteran's previously assessed depression with his military service. Therefore, the claim for service connection for major depression and chronic adjustment disorder is denied.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine if any currently diagnosed psychiatric disorders are etiologically related to service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination. The Veteran's claims of service connection for depression, increased rating for bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus are being reviewed.

The Board found that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder, was not incurred or aggravated in service and is not caused by his service-connected tinnitus.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and Depression, is related to his service in the Gulf War. As such, the claim for service connection is granted.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, specifically depressive disorder NOS, has been granted.,Service connection for a left knee disability was also granted. However, the effective date of this grant is set at February 25, 2009.

The Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD is granted. The Board finds that the Veteran has a verified in-service stressor and meets the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Service connection is also granted for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD, but only to the extent it is related to his now service-connected PTSD.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, hypertension, asbestosis, testicular cancer (including prostate cancer), oral cancer, and lymph node cancer (secondary to prostate cancer). The reasons were that there was no evidence of a current diagnosis or link between these conditions and his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a personal hearing before a Veterans Law Judge to be held in Puerto Rico. The issues on appeal are related to his service-connected depressive disorder and TDIU.

The Board has decided to remand the case for additional development, including obtaining clarification of when a sexual assault occurred and obtaining records related to any sexually transmitted disease. The claim will be reconsidered after these actions.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's PTSD with depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder is attributable to his fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during service at the Korean DMZ. As such, the claim for service connection is granted.

The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea is related to his service-connected depression, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the case for extraschedular consideration due to the combined effect of multiple conditions, including service-connected vertigo and depression. The Veteran's claim for an increased rating on an extraschedular basis is pending, as well as her claim for service connection for depression secondary to her service-connected vertigo.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn by his representative, resulting in the dismissal of the case.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted, with the exception of his claim for hyperlipidemia. The remaining conditions include an acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD and anxiety disorders), bilateral knee osteoarthritis, hearing loss of the left ear, sleep apnea, hypertension, a low back disorder, bilateral hip osteoarthritis, tinnitus of the right ear, folliculitis, resection of left eye pterygium with residual faint nasal conjunctival scar, recurrent nasal pterygium of the right eye, and TDIU. The Veteran's hyperlipidemia claim is pending.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to VA's failure to request mental health care treatment records from a VAMC in Columbia, Missouri, since 2007.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have a diagnosis of PTSD and did not find any other psychiatric disability to be service-connected.