The Veteran's claim for service connection for major depressive disorder, secondary to his service-connected tinnitus, is granted. The other issues on appeal are remanded.
The deciding factor: Major depressive disorder was found to be at least as likely as not caused by the service-connected tinnitus based on current medical literature and the examiner’s experience.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder, right hip disability, vision disability, peripheral vascular disease of the left lower extremity, peripheral vascular disease of the right lower extremity, hypertension, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), right arm disability, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, chronic fatigue syndrome, left hip disability, obstructive sleep apnea, left knee disability, right knee disability, arrhythmia, chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne, rheumatic fever
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20046859
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 20046859.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for specially-adapted housing assistance and a special home adaptation grant was denied because he does not meet the criteria for either benefit based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
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