The Veteran's PTSD, right elbow condition, and back conditions are granted service connection. The neck disability and hypothyroidism claims are denied.
The deciding factor: Service records do not provide evidence of a nexus between the current disabilities and active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical Degenerative Joint Disease and Bilateral Upper Extremity Radiculopathy, Lumbar Disc Disease and Left Lower Extremity Radiculopathy, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Right Lateral Epicondylitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19163613
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,828 · Granted: 32% (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 19163613.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU effective August 13, 2024, based on his service-connected PTSD with MDD.
- Granted
The VA reduced the disability rating for your right elbow condition from 30% to 0%, but this decision was found improper due to an inadequate examination. Your original 30% rating is restored.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's PTSD with MDD may have resulted in total occupational and social impairment prior to October 16, 2024. However, there is insufficient medical evidence of record to make a proper determination on this issue as previous VA mental health examinations did not provide necessary information concerning occupational and social impairment or consider the Veteran's spouse's report.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased disability rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD with MDD prior to March 8, 2021 is being remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. A retrospective VA examination is needed to assess the severity of his symptoms during the relevant period.
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