The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to obtain a more accurate medical opinion, as the previous one was based on inaccurate information.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's conclusion was based on an inaccurate factual premise and failed to address relevant lay statements.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder (MDD), recurrent, with anxious distress, unspecified anxiety disorder, unspecified depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder with depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2024
- Citation
- A24072947
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding their etiology.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for the Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder, finding that her symptoms more closely approximated those required for such a rating.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's award of total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted effective from April 15, 2017, solely based on his unspecified anxiety disorder. The claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include major depressive disorder (MDD), due to several pre-decisional duty to assist omissions.
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