The Veteran's currently diagnosed depressive disorder is found to be aggravated by his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, thus meeting the criteria for service connection.
The deciding factor: A VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus more likely than not aggravated his depressive disorder with mixed features.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive Disorder with Mixed Features
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 3, 2017
- Citation
- 1714628
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 1714628.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU have been remanded due to the need for further examination. The current rating for depressive disorder with mixed features and anxiety disorder with traumatic brain injury is denied as not meeting the criteria for a higher rating.
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- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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