The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion provided by a psychologist in February 2023, which was found to be more probative than the VA examination report from September 2022, supported that the Veteran's psychiatric conditions are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- unspecified depressive disorder, unspecified anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25055348
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 claims for service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding their etiology.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for the Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder, finding that her symptoms more closely approximated those required for such a rating.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's award of total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted effective from April 15, 2017, solely based on his unspecified anxiety disorder. The claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy was denied.
- 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.
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