The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, cannabis use disorder, and cocaine use disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected chronic lumbar strain.
The deciding factor: There was an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding whether the Veteran's psychiatric conditions were secondary to his service-connected back injury, and giving the benefit of the doubt to the Veteran, the Board found that they were.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, cannabis use disorder, cocaine use disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25024660
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left hip iliopsoas tendonitis, right knee strain, and left knee strain as secondary to lumbosacral strain. Service connection was also granted for cannabis use disorder as secondary to mental health conditions of PTSD, major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, and TBI. However, the Board denied an initial disability rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD and granted a separate disability rating of 40 percent for TBI.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disability, including depression, alcohol use disorder, cocaine use disorder, and cannabis use disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disability, to include unspecified bipolar and related disorder with anxious distress, cannabis use disorder, and other hallucinogen use disorder, due to missing records and a need for additional evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an initial compensable rating for right eye diplopia and extraocular motility restriction, service connection for traumatic brain injury, and service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD. The claim for cannabis use disorder was remanded.
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