The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for removed nerve tumor from knee, acquired psychiatric disorders including anxiety and depression, and memory loss due to lack of current disability evidence and failure to appear at a VA examination. The appeal was remanded multiple times but the Veteran did not cooperate with VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The Veteran failed to attend scheduled VA examinations and there is no objective medical evidence showing current disabilities related to his service or exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
- Claimed conditions
- removed nerve tumor from knee, anxiety disorder, depression NOS, opioid use disorder, sedative hypnotic anxiolytic related disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19140012
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 317 · 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 19140012.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's tinnitus was granted service connection. The Board found the VA audiological examination inadequate for adjudicative purposes and remanded for an adequate VA audiological examination to determine if the Veteran has bilateral hearing loss. Service connection for PTSD, anxiety disorder, and depression is also remanded as there are insufficient competent medical evidence on file.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, specifically anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, which is found to be due to military sexual trauma experienced during service. The decision also notes that the Veteran's reports of in-service personal assault are credible and supported by medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, anxiety disorder, back disability, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, and right knee disability. The claim for service connection for residuals of a concussion is remanded.
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