The veteran's major depressive disorder (MDD) was granted as it has been medically attributed to an in-service head injury and other service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinions provided by Dr. Sinnott and Dr. Wing indicate the veteran's MDD is related to his service-connected conditions, supporting a grant of service connection for this condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder (MDD), Residuals of a traumatic head injury
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2009
- Citation
- 0900334
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0900334.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected Major Depressive Disorder contributed to his death from a Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA). The claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is therefore granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders and their relationship to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in verifying the Veteran's claimed stressors and developing his claim for a psychiatric disability other than PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide more details about the events he witnessed during service, and a VA examination will be scheduled to determine if any diagnosed conditions are related to service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that there was no evidence linking his current mental health conditions to his military service.
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