The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected low back and bilateral lower extremity disabilities.
The deciding factor: The private psychologist's opinion provided evidence that the Veteran's major depressive disorder is at least as likely as not due to chronic pain associated with his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric condition (major depressive disorder)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25108083
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 713 · Granted: 31% (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 A25108083.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for recurrent pharyngitis, an acquired psychiatric condition (major depressive disorder), tinnitus, and a rating in excess of 10 percent for tension headaches.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's low back condition. The claim for secondary service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is currently rated as 0 percent disabling, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea has been denied due to lack of evidence linking the condition to service. The claim will be remanded for further development.,Service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition (major depressive disorder) remains pending as the Veteran's claims have been remanded.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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