The Board found that the appellant's claim for service connection for depression secondary to a left knee disability is not well-grounded due to lack of competent evidence linking the current psychiatric symptomatology to the service-connected disability. The claim for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder was granted based on credible supporting evidence of the claimed in-service stressors.

The deciding factor: The appellant submitted competent medical evidence of a current diagnosis of PTSD and credible supporting evidence of the claimed in-service stressors, which were used as the foundation of the diagnoses. The Board found that the appellant's claim for service connection for depression secondary to a left knee disability was not well-grounded due to lack of competent evidence linking the current psychiatric symptomatology to the service-connected disability.

Claimed conditions

depression, post-traumatic_stress_disorder

How they argued it

Secondary to another service-connected condition

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

August 17, 2000

Citation

0021852

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 0021852.