Epilepsy & seizure disorders decisions — 2025

The Board denied a higher rating for PTSD but granted separate ratings of 70 percent for residuals of TBI and 10 percent for tinnitus associated with TBI, effective from February 3, 2014, and May 2023 respectively. The claim for an initial rating higher than 10 percent for psychomotor epilepsy was also denied.

The Board granted service connection for a seizure disability as secondary to the Veteran's TBI, restored a 50% rating for tension headaches, and granted special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to residuals of a TBI.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection of hypertension and remanded several other claims, including those for brain damage, memory loss, vertigo, seizures, acquired psychiatric disability, urinary incontinence, and fecal incontinence.

The Board denied a rating more than 40 percent prior to December 5, 2008, for temporal lobe epilepsy as the evidence did not show that the Veteran averaged at least one major seizure in four months over the last year or nine to ten minor seizures per week.

The Board granted service connection for partial simple seizures, claimed as epilepsy, based on the evidence showing a relationship to active service.

The Board remands the appeal for further development, including obtaining a retrospective medical opinion to determine the date of onset of seizure disorder and VA vocational rehabilitation benefits records from 1993.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for residuals of meningitis and seizures as additional evidence is needed to properly adjudicate these issues.

The Board remands the issue of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) for referral to the Director, Compensation Service, due to past history of more severe and frequent seizures that could impact employment.

The Board granted service connection for a seizure disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including TBI residuals, seizures, psychiatric conditions, vertigo, sleep disorders, and neurological issues in the upper and lower extremities.

The Board remands the claims for a head injury and seizure disorder, to include as due to a head injury, for readjudication based on new and relevant evidence received since the July 2019 rating decision.

The Board granted an effective date of June 18, 1990, for the award of service connection for psychomotor epilepsy.

The Board denied service connection for seizures and restored a 20 percent disability evaluation for the Veteran's cervical strain with intervertebral disc syndrome and degenerative arthritis of the spine with spinal stenosis effective October 12, 2021.

The appeal of a proposed reduction in the disability rating for complex partial seizures was dismissed as it was not a final decision and the Veteran filed prematurely.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for traumatic brain injury and seizures, finding no evidence of a current disability or nexus to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates, as well as service connection for various disabilities.

The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death to obtain a medical opinion regarding the relationship between his in-service pneumonia and his aspiration pneumonia, as well as whether his TBI caused or contributed to his seizures and Parkinson's disease.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for complications of a lung biopsy, finding that the additional disability did not result from carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA, or an event not reasonably foreseeable.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) due to insufficient evidence regarding herbicide exposure during the Veteran's service at Fort Gordon.

The Board's decision on July 23, 2019, is vacated and the issues are remanded for reconsideration under the modernized review system.