The Board remands the claims for a 100 percent rating and TDIU due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is required to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors related to SSA records and vocational rehabilitation file.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25024466
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, increased rating, and TDIU due to incomplete evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of a 70 percent disability rating for major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, as the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's symptoms more nearly approximated the criteria for a 70 percent disability rating prior to July 29, 2024.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, finding no evidence of a psychiatric injury or disease during service and no relationship between the current disability and any injury or disease during service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including left knee degenerative joint disease, right knee degenerative joint disease, thoracolumbar spine degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease, major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, avascular necrosis of the left hip, and sleep apnea, all as secondary to service-connected disabilities.
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