Migraines & headaches decisions — 2021

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for IBS and a headache condition, including migraine headaches due to incomplete information in the record.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to an intraoperative left vertebral artery injury during a cervical corpectomy, finding that while the injury was foreseeable and not due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance on part of VA, it did not meet the criteria for additional disability as per 38 C.F.R. § 3.361.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's claimed residuals of his in-service head injuries. The Veteran is entitled to a new opinion from an appropriate clinician.

The Veteran's migraines are now rated at 30 percent effective September 22, 2020. A higher rating is denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection for joint and bone pain cannot be reopened due to lack of new and material evidence. The claims for increased ratings, TDIU, headaches, and residuals of a traumatic brain injury are all remanded for further development.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals regarding service connection for various conditions, including headaches, a left hip condition, syrinx cervical spine (tethered spinal cord), hyperactive reflexes and nerve condition/dysfunction/syringohydromyelia, and sleep apnea.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for headaches due to insufficient evidence regarding whether his current symptoms are related to service-connected hypertension. An additional VA examination is needed to address this issue.

The Veteran's cluster headaches are rated at the highest possible level (50%) due to very frequent, completely prostrating attacks that cause severe economic inadaptability.

The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's claims, including service connection for various disabilities such as respiratory/pulmonary disability, heart disability (coronary artery disease), hypertension, circulatory disability, skin condition (solar lentigo), sleep apnea, allergies, general arthralgia, right eye disability, peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The issues have been remanded due to inadequate record and need for additional development.

The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent for migraines is being dismissed as it is being adjudicated separately to allow for more evidence consideration.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection and increased ratings were granted, with the exceptions of her claims for increased ratings for a right wrist disability, left wrist disability, and laceration to right thumb and fourth finger with residual loss of sensation and scarring.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to April 10, 2018, for the award of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on need for regular aid and attendance was denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not file a formal or informal claim for SMC before April 20, 2018, and that it was not factually ascertainable he needed regular aid and attendance within one year prior to his claim.

The Veteran is granted SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(o) and additional monthly allowance based on need for regular aid and attendance (SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(r)(1)). However, she does not meet the criteria for higher level of care needed (SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(r)(2)).

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection as these issues have been fully granted in a June 2021 rating decision.

The Board has remanded the claim of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected migraine headache disability. The Veteran's treating providers have opined that his migraine headaches alone may cause unemployability, and VA treatment records indicate he experienced severe phases with frequent episodes.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for anxiety and depression, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia are remanded due to the submission of new evidence that pertains to a previously unestablished element of the claim.

The Veteran's degenerative changes of the left hip and migraine headaches have been granted service connection as direct service connections, with no presumption or secondary theory applied.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and left hip disability have been remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions addressing the etiology of these conditions.,New evidence has not raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claims, as the previous denial was based on negative VA examination reports.

The Veteran's service connection for headaches was denied as there is no evidence of a chronic headache disability in service or that it is related to his service-connected GI disabilities.,Service connection for duodenal ulcer with reflux esophagitis and chronic constipation was granted at 20% prior to August 19, 2021, but denied at any higher rating from that date.

The Veteran's migraine headaches associated with TBI are rated at 50 percent effective September 22, 2020. The initial rating for diabetes mellitus remains at 20 percent.