The Board remands the claim for a mental health condition, to include adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood secondary to lumbar sprain with scoliosis and reticular symptoms, for an adequate VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The September 2023 VA examiner's opinion is inadequate as it did not consider all relevant evidence and failed to address whether the Veteran's service-connected lumbar sprain with scoliosis and reticular symptoms aggravated his mental health condition.
- Claimed conditions
- adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25022962
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 earlier effective dates for TDIU and DEA, but denied increased ratings for various service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date and a higher initial rating for the service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, finding that the earliest possible effective date had been assigned.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right and left knee, ankle, and leg disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of a 50% disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected adjustment disorder, denied an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD, and granted TDIU from May 20, 2023.
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