Migraines & headaches decisions — 2025

The Board granted a 30 percent rating for headaches with auras and a 10 percent rating for temporomandibular joint disorders, unspecified. Service connection was denied for various conditions including disabilities causing numbness, hearing loss, hip and spine issues, chest pain, dizziness, erectile dysfunction, psychiatric disorder, wrist disability, shortness of breath, ankle and eye pain, and sleep apnea.

The Veteran's effective date for the increased 50 percent rating for migraine headaches is granted as of November 16, 2023.

The Board denied the claims for a rating in excess of 30 percent for headaches and an initial compensable rating for sinusitis due to the Veteran's failure to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.

The Board denied service connection for PTSD and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for a depressive disorder with depressive features and anxiety disorder, and remanded claims for service connection for GERD and migraines.

The Board granted service connection for migraines, secondary to tinnitus, and remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.

The Board granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability and headaches, finding that the evidence supports a link between these conditions and the Veteran's active military service.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, a headache disorder, and erectile dysfunction, all secondary to the Veteran's newly service-connected acquired psychiatric disability.

The Board granted a 100 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), but denied service connection for a right ankle disability, an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, a compensable rating for renal insufficiency as a residual of rhabdomyolysis, and other claims.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, denied an initial evaluation in excess of 50 percent for sleep apnea, and denied a compensable evaluation for a left knee scar. The claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, cluster headaches, and increased ratings for the left knee, back, GERD, and TDIU were remanded.

The Board granted the appeal and restored service connection for GERD with cirrhosis of the liver, cholelithiasis with chronic cholecystitis, and surgical and painful right subcostal scars, s/p cholecystectomy. The claim for readjudication of PTSD was also granted, while other claims were denied.

The veteran withdrew the appeal for all service connection claims, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these matters.

The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including abnormal weight loss, a bladder disability, blockage of the neck arteries, and others. The evidence did not support a finding that any of these conditions were related to the Veteran's active service.

The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected PTSD from April 26, 2020, and special monthly compensation from April 26, 2021.

The Board denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for back, neck, headache, and upper extremity disabilities as the evidence did not show that these conditions were caused by VA carelessness or negligence.

The Board grants the Veteran the maximum schedular rating of 50 percent for his headache disorder throughout the entire appeal period.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for anxiety, depression, left knee pain, and migraine headaches.

The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for migraines to obtain a more comprehensive medical opinion addressing whether the condition is caused or aggravated by her service-connected conditions.

The Board denied service connection for chronic sinusitis, fibromyalgia, left and right ear hearing loss, and gastroenteritis, but granted service connection for migraine headaches. The claims for an initial evaluation higher than 30 percent for chronic sinusitis and 20 percent for fibromyalgia were also denied.

The Board denied service connection for anxiety, depression, PTSD, headaches (including migraines), and sleep apnea syndrome as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active duty.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a traumatic brain injury and chronic headaches due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.