The Board remands the claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 50 percent for major depressive disorder and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to correct pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors, including associating the Veteran's treatment records from VA databases with his claims file and obtaining relevant SSA records.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2025
- Citation
- A25028678
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 claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for major depressive disorder is dismissed as moot because the earliest effective date was granted during the pendency of this appeal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, sleep apnea, hypertension, and various musculoskeletal and skin disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left hip degenerative arthritis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle and knee conditions, and major depressive disorder as secondary to his service-connected knee and ankle conditions. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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