The Board granted a 70 percent evaluation for the Veteran's mood disorder and denied compensable evaluations for stooped posture associated with chronic constipation related to Parkinson's disease, as well as an increased rating for chronic constipation.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric symptoms caused occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, which warranted a 70 percent evaluation under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. However, his stooped posture was not shown to be moderate (or worse) incomplete paralysis of the cranial nerves affecting the sternomastoid and trapezius muscles.
- Claimed conditions
- stooped posture (right side), stooped posture (left side), chronic constipation, mood disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- May 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25041016
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, mood disorder, and unspecified depressive disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a mood disorder as secondary to the service-connected headaches or tinnitus, finding no probative evidence linking the two conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support a finding of a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including obtaining private treatment records and scheduling VA examinations.
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