The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and increased the initial rating of migraine headaches to 50 percent, while remanding a claim for total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a positive nexus between the Veteran's current psychiatric symptoms and his active duty service, particularly regarding a submarine incident. The frequency and severity of the Veteran's migraines also meet the criteria for a 50 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 8100.
- Claimed conditions
- other trauma stressor related disorder, major depressive disorder, severe, cannabis use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- May 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25040409
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 998 · Granted: 40% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25040409.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent for a mental health disorder is dismissed. The Board grants the Veteran a TDIU from September 2, 2019, but no earlier.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 70 percent for his service-connected psychiatric conditions (panic attacks, generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use disorder, and cannabis use disorder) was denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for a 100 percent rating due to insufficient evidence of total occupational and social impairment.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is related to active service and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a predecisional duty to assist error and remands the case for an addendum opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea, specifically addressing whether his service-connected PTSD caused or aggravated obesity, which may be an intermediate step in a secondary service-connection analysis.
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