The Board has granted service connection for depression as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran's current diagnosis of depression is proximately due to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's current depressive disorder is proximately due to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, thus granting service connection for depression secondary to these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- depression
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- 20069019
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 Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back pain, knee and wrist joint pains, neck pain, anxiety, depression, as further development is needed to properly adjudicate these claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for depression, PTSD, and an anxiety disorder due to the lack of a current diagnosis.
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