The Board granted service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, MDD, and alcohol use disorder, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability and tinnitus.
The deciding factor: The March 2024 VA medical opinions found that the right knee disability and tinnitus were contributing causes to the Veteran's current psychiatric disorder, establishing a nexus between the current condition and his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), alcohol use disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2025
- Citation
- 25015199
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 25015199.
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 has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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