The Board remands the claims for a rating in excess of 50 percent prior to January 18, 2024, for major depressive disorder and a compensable rating prior to January 18, 2024, for headaches due to an outstanding duty-to-assist error.
The deciding factor: The remand is necessary to obtain private treatment records from Dr. Blumenthal that were not considered in the previous decision.
- Claimed conditions
- Major depressive disorder, Headaches
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25048985
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.
- Granted
The Board granted initial ratings of 40 percent for lumbar spine disorder, 70 percent for major depressive disorder, and 40 percent for left lower extremity radiculopathy. TDIU and SMC based on housebound status were also granted.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, currently diagnosed as other specified trauma and stressor related disorder and major depressive disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, headaches, a back disability, heart disability, and residuals of a stroke, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active service or caused by his service-connected left ear disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal in September 2025, stating that she is now 100% permanently and totally disabled effective April 29, 2025.
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