The Board has denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and a digestive disability, finding no evidence to support the Veteran's claims. The issue of readjudication of COPD and obstructive sleep apnea is remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not establish that the Veteran's current psychiatric or digestive disabilities are related to his service or secondary to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychiatric Disability (Depressive Disorder), Digestive Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2024
- Citation
- A24074517
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation A24074517.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate medical opinions provided in previous examinations and evaluations. The issues include psychiatric disability, sleep apnea, headaches (including as a residual of TBI), digestive disability, and respiratory disability.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case for further development and an examination, as there is potential evidence of a relationship between the Veteran's service or service-connected disability and his digestive disability.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's digestive disability is manifested by diarrhea, occasional involuntary bowel movements necessitating the wearing of a pad or other absorbent material, and near constant abdominal distress but does not meet the criteria for an evaluation in excess of 30 percent.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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