The Board remands the issue of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depressive disorder and cannabis use disorder, as secondary to the service-connected traumatic brain injury for additional development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion did not address whether the current psychiatric disorders were caused or aggravated by the service-connected traumatic brain injury under the theory of secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- depressive disorder, cannabis use disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21061560
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left hip iliopsoas tendonitis, right knee strain, and left knee strain as secondary to lumbosacral strain. Service connection was also granted for cannabis use disorder as secondary to mental health conditions of PTSD, major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, and TBI. However, the Board denied an initial disability rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD and granted a separate disability rating of 40 percent for TBI.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disability, including depression, alcohol use disorder, cocaine use disorder, and cannabis use disorder.
- 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.
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