The Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder and tobacco use disorder, was found to meet the criteria for a 100% disability evaluation effective November 9, 2020.
The deciding factor: The Veteran met the criteria for total occupational and social impairment due to his psychiatric disorders within one year prior to the claim for an increased rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder, recurrent, Tobacco use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- November 7, 2024
- Citation
- A24072789
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 869 · 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 A24072789.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD with opioid use disorder, sedative-hypnotics use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and tobacco use disorder due to the Veteran's occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart disability, but remanded the issues of an increased rating for major depressive disorder and service connection for a respiratory disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder, a compensable rating for vitreous degeneration, and an increased rating for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for major depressive disorder, recurrent and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as the evidence did not support a higher level of impairment.
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