The Veteran's appeal for service connection of depressive disorder is dismissed. The claim for seizure disorder is denied, and the Veteran's increased rating for depressive disorder with TBI remains at 70 percent.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s depressive disorder is already considered in his current service-connected TBI evaluation, thus dismissal of the separate claim for service connection is warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive Disorder, Seizure Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19188962
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 19188962.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial increased rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability from March 8, 2010, to May 19, 2014, and denied a higher rating thereafter.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder of generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder, as secondary to the service-connected left ankle disability. Service connection was also granted for pseudofolliculitis barbae, and a 20 percent rating was assigned for left ankle achilles tendonitis from October 23, 2023.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include GAD and depressive disorder, as well as a cervical spine disability, right wrist pain, and left wrist pain. However, the claims for lumbar spine pain were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for TBI, an earlier effective date for TDIU and DEA benefits, and remanded service connection for seizure disorder.
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