Migraines & headaches decisions — 2014

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to a violation of Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The case will be reviewed by the RO/AMC after completing the requested actions.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities (migraine headaches, chronic photodermatitis, exercise-induced asthma, and diabetes mellitus) prevented him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment for which his education and occupational experience otherwise qualified him prior to June 10, 2005. The Board granted the claim for TDIU.

The Veteran's service-connected chronic headaches have been rated at a noncompensable level, but the Board has determined that his symptoms warrant an initial 30 percent rating.

The Veteran's claims for chronic depression, nonspecific headache disability (claimed as chronic migraines), fatigue syndrome, and prostate cancer were denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not have objective indications of a qualifying chronic disability due to undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness during his service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining Social Security Administration records and providing the Veteran with proper VCAA notice. The issues of service connection for a bilateral knee disability and hepatitis C are also being remanded as they were not properly adjudicated on their de novo basis.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional examination and the retrieval of relevant medical records.

The Board finds that the Veteran's current migraine headaches are related to his military service, and grants service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's service connection for a pilonidal cyst with residual scar, rated as 10 percent disabling, effective January 12, 2012, now qualifies him for VA healthcare benefits.

The Veteran's claim for higher evaluations for his service-connected tension headaches and left hip degenerative joint disease was denied.,Both conditions are rated under the general rating criteria without any specific provisions related to exposure or presumptions.

The Board found that the Veteran's anxiety disorder did not have its onset during service and is not etiologically related to service. The claim for migraine headaches was remanded due to inadequate examination.

The Veteran's migraine headaches have been rated at 30 percent since September 2008, but the Board finds that this rating is not higher than what is warranted based on his symptoms.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining updated medical records and scheduling a VA examination to determine if he is unable to obtain or retain substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for traumatic brain injury, hypertension, and headaches. The initial evaluations for PTSD, lip laceration scar, and bilateral hearing loss were also denied.

The Veteran's hypertension has been granted service connection. The initial compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis is also granted.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left knee, migraine headaches, neck, and low back disabilities are related to service and grants service connection for all four conditions.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a new VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected chronic migraine and tension-type headaches, as well as an evaluation regarding his claim for TDIU.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development and consideration of his claims, including obtaining VA medical records and vocational rehabilitation records.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities alone have not been shown to prevent her from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's initial claim for service connection on all issues was denied. However, his claim for an increased evaluation for headaches has been granted and assigned a 30 percent rating effective from August 24, 2011.

The Veteran's headaches began during service and have continued since then. The Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of a headache disorder, recurrent headaches since service, and a causal relationship between his present disability and his in-service headaches.