The Board granted higher initial disability ratings for depressive disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, and lung cancer residuals, but denied a higher rating for tension headaches.
The deciding factor: The severity of the Veteran's symptoms more nearly approximated occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, warranting a 70% rating for depression. The use of a CPAP machine required for sleep apnea from December 22, 2014 to July 20, 2017 warranted a 50% rating.
- Claimed conditions
- tension headaches, depressive disorder associated with diabetes mellitus, type II (depression), obstructive sleep apnea associated with depression (sleep apnea), lung cancer with right upper lobectomy and obstructive sleep apnea (lung cancer residuals)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25038573
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including tension headaches, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral hearing loss disability. The Board also denied an initial compensable rating for the Veteran's headache disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for tension headaches, alternatively diagnosed as migraine headaches, finding that the evidence did not show characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over the last several months.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a retrospective medical assessment regarding the severity of the Veteran's headaches without medication to determine if an earlier effective date for a 50 percent disability rating is warranted.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for tension headaches, as the evidence did not show characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in two months over the last several months.
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