The Veteran's service-connected mood disorder, headaches due to concussion, herniated disc of L4-L5, right ankle condition, and right ankle scar are all rated lower than the Veteran believes they should be. The Board finds that a remand is necessary to ensure that the record contains evidence of the current severity of his disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran asserts that his conditions have worsened since his last VA examination, which must be rescheduled for an updated assessment.
- Claimed conditions
- mood disorder, headaches due to concussion, herniated disc, L4-L5, status post fracture, right ankle, with closed reduction and internal fixation, right ankle scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19166265
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 19166265.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, mood disorder, and unspecified depressive disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a mood disorder as secondary to the service-connected headaches or tinnitus, finding no probative evidence linking the two conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including obtaining private treatment records and scheduling VA examinations.
- Dismissed
The appeal as to the proposed rating reduction of right ankle arthritis was dismissed, and an initial disability rating higher than 10% for right ankle scar was denied.
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