Depression Board decisions

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and a need for further examination. The issues include low back disability, right lower extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Veteran's TBI with depressive disorder, along with other service-connected disabilities, has rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 16, 2022. Since then, he is in receipt of a 100% rating for his TBI and additional disabilities independently rated at over 60%, qualifying him for SMC at the housebound rate.

The Veteran's service-connected persistent depressive disorder is granted a 70 percent evaluation, effective from the date of this decision.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete records and a need for further development, including obtaining private mental health treatment records.

The Veteran's claim for service connection of an unspecified depressive disorder was granted secondary to a service-connected back disability, effective April 7, 2006.,The Veteran's TDIU claim was granted effective July 18, 2011. The DEA eligibility was also granted on the same date.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not result in the physical loss or permanent loss of use of his hands or feet, permanent impairment of vision in both eyes to the specified degree necessary for the award of adaptive equipment, scar formation resulting from severe burn injury, or ankylosis of his knees or hips. Therefore, he is denied eligibility for financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for increased rating and service connection claims due to his withdrawal of these appeals in an April 2024 statement.

The Veteran's bilateral pes planus was restored to a 30% evaluation, effective October 21, 2020. The Veteran's depressive disorder remains at a 70% evaluation prior to February 3, 2022, but is denied in excess of that level.

The Veteran's PDD is rated at 50 percent, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.,The Veteran's Diabetes Mellitus type II is currently rated at 20 percent and no higher.

Your claims of service connection for anxiety, depression, and PTSD have been granted. The effective date will be determined by the AOJ.

The Board has remanded the case due to conflicting medical opinions regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD. A new VA examination is needed to determine if any current diagnoses are related to service.

The Veteran's PTSD and MDD have been rated at 70 percent since the April 2020 decision, but a higher rating is denied. The effective date for service connection of PTSD/MDD is also denied.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to inadequate VA opinions and requires additional examination.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings in multiple service-connected disabilities have been dismissed. A TDIU has been granted due to the combined effect of his psychiatric and physical disabilities.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection for alcohol dependence, anxiety, COPD, insomnia, depression, and asthmatic bronchitis due to the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's major depressive disorder is rated at 70 percent, but no higher, for the entire period on appeal.

The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The claim will be reconsidered with new evidence.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating or earlier effective date for PTSD and MDD with anxious distress is dismissed because the service connection was severed in a prior decision, making it impossible to grant such claims.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of acquired psychiatric disabilities, left lower extremity sciatica nerve disability, and right lower extremity disability are being remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors. The Board will provide a VA examination to address the issues.

Temporary total ratings of 100% have been granted for periods of hospitalization due to service-connected PTSD from August 7, 2007, through September 30, 2007; November 14, 2012, through January 31, 2013; and October 14, 2020, through January 31, 2021.