The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, claimed as secondary to service-connected tinnitus, for further development and an adequate medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was inadequate because it did not address both causation and aggravation, which are required elements in a secondary service connection claim.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25026478
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress and insomnia disorder was dismissed due to a procedural defect involving the claims-processing rules.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a right knee condition, denied initial compensable ratings for tension headaches and unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, granted an initial 10 percent rating for GERD, and denied initial compensable ratings for erectile dysfunction.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, due to an incomplete evidentiary record.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the 70 percent rating and a TDIU, but denied SMC based on housebound status.
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