The Veteran's initial compensable rating for a psychiatric disability, characterized as major depressive disorder, is denied.,The Veteran's initial compensable rating for a skin disability, characterized as acne keloidalis, is denied.,Service connection for an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness (MUCMI) claimed as essential tremor is granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric symptoms do not meet the criteria for a higher rating due to their impact on occupational and social functioning.,The Veteran’s skin disability does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating based on its size or use of systemic therapy.,The Veteran has qualifying service in the Persian Gulf and his tremors are a qualifying chronic disability, warranting service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.317.
- Claimed conditions
- Major Depressive Disorder, Acne Keloidalis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20003905
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 20003905.
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
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