The Board finds that the Veteran's major depressive disorder is not secondary to his service-connected left knee condition, it was not present in service and it is not related to service.
The deciding factor: The January 2007 VA examiner concluded that he was unable to determine if the Veteran's depression is due to his left knee condition or due to his cocaine use. The Board finds this opinion speculative and notes that other medical evidence suggests a head injury as the cause of the Veteran's depressive disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Major Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 325 · Granted: 20% (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 0910525.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Veteran's major depressive disorder is found to be caused by his service-connected low back and radiculopathy disabilities, which prevent him from doing enjoyable activities and daily living tasks.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an increased rating for PTSD and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a new VA examination.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction is secondary to his service-connected major depressive disorder, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a 70 percent disability rating for his psychiatric disorder, including PTSD with MDD and anxiety, has been granted. However, the issue of entitlement to Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) is remanded due to procedural issues.
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