Citation Nr: 21025251 Decision Date: 04/27/21 Archive Date: 04/27/21 DOCKET NO. 16-62 583 DATE: April 27, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for depressive disorder, secondary to service-connected tenso vascular cephaleas (claimed as headaches), is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s current depressive disorder has been shown to be causally related to symptoms caused by his service-connected headache disorder. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for depressive disorder are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.159, 3.303(a), 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from February 1985 to June 1985, and in the Navy from October 2001 to June 2002. This matter arose to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from an August 2015 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In March 2021, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a virtual Board hearing. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record. Entitlement to service connection for depressive disorder, to include as secondary to a service-connected headache disorder The Veteran contends his acquired psychiatric disorder—which he has characterized as anxiety and depression—can be traced back to an in-service surgical procedure to remove a lipoma on his head. He specifically argues (for example, in his December 2015 notice of disagreement) that his mental health problems are secondary to symptoms, including headaches, which in turn resulted from the lipoma removal. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a link between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disability was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). In addition, service connection may be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is shown to be proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. Establishing service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence sufficient to show that a current disability exists and that the current disability was either caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310; Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). Initially, the record shows the Veteran has been diagnosed with depressive disorder by a VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) examiner and receives counseling and psychiatric treatment through the VA. Thus, the current disability element of his service connection claim has been met. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a); see also Holton, 557 F.3d at 1366. As for the question of nexus, the Veteran submitted a March 2017 Disability Benefit Questionnaire (DBQ) from his treating VA psychiatrist, who stated the Veteran had been presenting with mental health problems “related to severe headaches” associated with the in-service procedure to remove the lipoma. Other VA treatment records from this psychiatrist confirm the Veteran’s headache symptoms have been found to provoke or worsen symptoms of depression and sadness. The Board notes the Veteran received a C&P examination in May 2016, following which the examiner offered a negative nexus opinion. On review, however, this opinion is not entitled to probative weight, as it merely states several conclusory sentences without addressing the Veteran’s specific complaints or indeed the nature of his theory of entitlement. Thus, there is no probative evidence of record which causes the Board to question the VA psychiatrist’s positive findings detailed above. The Board notes the Veteran’s headache symptoms have been shown to be quite serious, and his allegations of a mental health impact from these symptoms are intuitively plausible. (Continued on the next page)   In sum, the weight of the evidence clearly supports the Veteran’s claim that his current depressive disorder is related to symptoms caused by his service-connected headache disorder. There is credible lay and medical evidence of record supporting a nexus between his depressive disorder and this service-connected disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. Service connection for depressive disorder will therefore be granted. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Ryan, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.