The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded as the Board finds sufficient lay and medical evidence to suggest that his service-connected disabilities, despite falling short of schedular criteria for TDIU consideration, may have prevented him from obtaining or maintaining a substantially gainful occupation.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities and depressive disorder prevent him from performing jobs requiring physical labor, even with sedentary work.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disabilities, depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19184128
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted service connection for migraine headaches secondary to tinnitus, effective April 1, 2021. The claim for an earlier effective date for depressive disorder was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected bilateral foot and knee disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to obtain a VA examination and etiological opinion.
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