The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression, which is found to be proximately due to or the result of his service-connected right and left knee disabilities. The Veteran's neck disorder and arthritis are also found to be secondary to his service-connected right and left knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder (including depression) was proximately due to or the result of his service-connected right and left knee disabilities, as evidenced by a VA examination which indicated that the Veteran had mild depressive symptoms secondary to chronic knee pain. The same reasoning applied to his neck disorder and arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Mood Disorder, Personality Disorder), Neck Disorder, Arthritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 13, 2011
- Citation
- 1134219
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 1134219.
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 has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error in previous examinations, requiring additional information on right shoulder ROM measurements without medication effects.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disorder, neck disorder, and right shoulder disorder due to deficiencies in the VA medical opinions provided. The Veteran will need new VA medical opinions to determine if his current disorders are related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for low back disability and right lower extremity radiculopathy have been reduced from 40% and 10%, respectively, to 20% and 0%. The reduction was based on improvements shown in recent VA examinations.
- Denied
The Veteran's right knee strain with arthritis is currently rated at 10 percent, the maximum allowable rating under Diagnostic Code 5010 prior to February 7, 2021. The Veteran's GERD with hiatal hernia and irritable bowel syndrome is not rated higher than 30 percent.
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