Veterans Disability Info Blog

Veteran awarded TDIU, service connection for migraines and major depressive disorder


Veteran, a native of Puerto Rico, was in the United States Army from January 2000 to May 2005 during the Gulf War.  His MOS was Air Ambulance Mechanic and he was stationed in Germany.

While in service he suffered from lumbar pain and was treated for it.  He was also honorably discharged due to his lumbar pain.  His chronic, severe pain resulted in the Veteran experiencing depression.  He was hospitalized in service in Germany in December 2003 for depression.

Upon his discharge in 2005 the Veteran was hospitalized over twelve times for psychiatric problems.  His longest hospitalization was for five months in 2011.  He was afraid he was going to harm the mother of his child and her boyfriend, so he admitted himself for in patient psychiatric care.  

There is no question he suffered from in service lumbar pain and a psychiatric disorder.  The VA however, thought otherwise.  The Veteran struggled with them since filing his claim in 2005 and out of utter frustration came to us in May 2010.  The Veteran tried on his own to obtain service connection but without success.  Neither he nor the service organization could help him prevail.  In 2011 BVA decision we were able to obtain for the Veteran service connection for his lumbar spine condition at a 40% rating and tinnitus at a 10% rating.  But we still needed to service connect the psychiatric disorder.

So, we began to build his case for service connection for his depression.  We hired psychological experts, along with updated VA medical treatment records and presented them as new evidence.  After five years of pressuring the VA to do right by this Veteran he was granted service connection for Major Depressive Disorder at a 70% rating effective April 2007, service connection for Migraine Headaches at a 50% rating effective December 2005 and TDIU effective April 2007.

 

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