The Board granted service connection for depression and assigned a 20 percent evaluation for cervical spine disability. The evaluations for thoracic and lumbar spine disabilities were also increased to 10 percent each.
The deciding factor: Service records showed the veteran's complaints of neck, back pain, and numbness over many years, with multiple medical examinations and treatments. Her depression was found to be related to her service-connected cervical spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- depression, degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, degenerative disc disease of the thoracic spine, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- February 29, 2000
- Citation
- 0005377
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0005377.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back pain, knee and wrist joint pains, neck pain, anxiety, depression, as further development is needed to properly adjudicate these claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for depression was dismissed as the claim was fully resolved by a subsequent rating decision. The appeal for service connection for anxiety was denied due to insufficient evidence of a current disability.
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