Traumatic brain injury (TBI) decisions — 2024

The Board granted service connection for traumatic brain injury, finding a causal relationship to the Veteran's active military service.

The Veteran's migraines did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating prior to April 26, 2022 due to infrequent prostrating attacks.,For the period beginning on April 26, 2022, the Veteran's migraines did not warrant a rating in excess of 30 percent as they did not meet the criteria for very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks.

The Board denied service connection for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for residuals of a head injury, to include traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The Veteran's claim for tinnitus was denied as there is no evidence of a formal or informal claim before May 5, 2017.,Service connection for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders was denied due to lack of verification of in-service stressor.

The Board denied service connection for a right arm disorder, TBI or residuals thereof, and headaches. The claims for service connection for neck, left upper extremity, back, and knee disorders were remanded.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for a traumatic brain injury, finding no evidence of a formal or informal claim prior to April 9, 2019.

An effective date before April 7, 2014, for the grant of service connection for a psychiatric disability and traumatic brain injury is denied.,An evaluation in excess of 70 percent for a psychiatric disability and traumatic brain injury is denied. An evaluation of 50 percent, but no higher, for migraine headaches from April 7, 2014, is granted.

The Board has denied service connection for various conditions including an acquired psychiatric disorder, residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), headaches, bilateral eye refractive error, cervical spine disorder, bilateral shoulder disorder, bilateral hip/thigh disorder, bilateral upper and lower extremity nerve damage, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and dry skin disorder. The denial is based on the lack of diagnosed conditions in service or recent to the filing of the claim.

The Veteran's claims for service connection on multiple conditions were denied in the April 2020 rating decision. The Board is denying these claims based on finality of the decision and lack of new evidence or arguments.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions and records. The issues of TBI, psychiatric disability, sleep impairment, headache, vestibular disorder, shoulder disabilities, knee, ankle, foot, and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy will be reconsidered.

The Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder with anxious distress and traumatic brain injury has rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment since January 2022, qualifying for a TDIU. Additionally, the Veteran is in receipt of SMC at the housebound rate due to additional service-connected disabilities. The claim for bilateral pes planus remains pending as it involves duty to assist errors.

The Board has found that the evidence does not clearly and unmistakably indicate overlapping symptoms between the Veteran's service-connected TBI and depression, thus denying a revision of the September 2019 rating decision to eliminate separate ratings for these conditions. The earlier effective date claim is remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current right foot frostbite disability or any other disability characterized by symptoms resulting in functional impairment of earning capacity related to service. The evidence does not support finding that the Veteran's claimed disabilities are related to his military service.,The Veteran contends that he has migraine headaches due to sleep apnea, which is already service-connected. However, a VA examination was not provided for this claim.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for his service-connected traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to the evidence not showing symptoms severe enough to warrant such a rating.

The appeal regarding the reduction of the Veteran's PTSD with TBI disability rating from 70% to 10% has been dismissed as moot due to the AOJ's decision to restore and continue the original 70% rating.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for traumatic brain injury (explosion in Afghanistan) as there is no persuasive evidence that it was incurred or aggravated during military service.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's traumatic brain injury and its relation to military service. The Veteran will need further examination to clarify whether any TBI was caused by specific incidents.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have resulted in the need for regular aid and attendance of another person, leading to a grant of SMC based on aid and attendance. The housebound status claim is moot due to the grant of SMC at the aid and attendance rate.

Your appeal has been dismissed because the appellant requested to withdraw his appeal.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in obtaining his complete service personnel records, including any line-of-duty determinations related to his in-service fall from a bridge.