The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for other specified depressive disorder and right knee disability were denied. The Veteran was granted service connection for right knee instability.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, as required by the criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Other specified depressive disorder with anxious distress, Right knee s/p arthroplasty
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- December 17, 2019
- Citation
- A19003651
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 A19003651.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD and denied it for TBI, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran regarding his psychiatric condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to obtain a new VA examination that fully addresses and considers the Veteran's lay assertions and any private or VA treatment records.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left knee disabilities, as new and material evidence was received. The claims are now pending further development to determine if service connection can be established.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is granted for an increased initial disability rating of 70 percent for a psychiatric disorder, effective August 14, 2020. The issues of service connection for erectile dysfunction and migraine headaches are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
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