Traumatic brain injury (TBI) decisions — 2025

The Board granted an effective date of October 13, 2022, for a 100 percent disability rating for residuals of TBI and special monthly compensation (SMC) based on aid and attendance at level (t) due to residuals of the Veteran's traumatic brain injury.

The Veteran's single service-connected disability, traumatic brain injury with depressive disorder with anxious distress, prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation as of September 14, 2021.

The appeal regarding increased ratings for temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ) and residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI) was dismissed, as the veteran elected a Direct Review docket after a higher-level review request. Service connection for avitaminosis was denied.

The Board granted an initial rating of 50 percent for headaches and denied a separate initial rating for traumatic brain injury.

The Board granted service connection for a headache disability and denied an initial compensable rating for traumatic brain injury (TBI), while remanding the claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability.

The Veteran's service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder was granted, while the claims for TBI, bilateral hearing loss, and other spine and extremity disabilities were denied or remanded.

The Board remands the appeal for further development, including obtaining relevant private treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to reassess the severity of the service-connected residuals of traumatic brain injury.

The appeal seeking service connection for PTSD, TBI, and facial scarring was dismissed due to the Veteran's failure to file a timely notice of disagreement within one year of the December 2013 rating decision.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, GERD, IBS, a low back disability, left and right hand disabilities, a deviated septum, TBI, and headache condition due to the lack of evidence showing current diagnoses or a link to in-service events.

The appeal regarding the rating reduction for migraines and entitlement to service connection for TBI was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election under the Appeals Modernization Act.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD and TBI, denied a rating in excess of 50 percent for migraine headaches, granted an effective date of May 11, 2022, but no earlier, for the award of a 50 percent rating for migraine headaches, and granted individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The Board granted an initial 70 percent rating for PTSD and TBI, effective December 15, 2021.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 50 percent for adjustment disorder with traumatic brain injury and remanded claims for service connection for back, right foot, and neck disorders.

The Board denied an increased rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI) as the Veteran's claim was filed on June 10, 2021, and there is no earlier ascertainable date for his residuals of TBI.

The Board remands the claim for service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as treatment records from a VA hospital in Memphis, TN during July 1984 have not been obtained.

The Board granted an effective date of September 16, 2016 for service connection for migraine headaches and traumatic brain injury (TBI), but denied an earlier effective date for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. The appeals for higher ratings were dismissed.

The Board granted an effective date of November 9, 2009 for the award of service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI), but no earlier.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates for various service-connected conditions, including frostbite residuals of the upper and lower extremities, left hip strain, tinnitus, depressive and alcohol use disorders, radiculopathy, anosmia, right upper eyelid scar, cervical spine disability, and lumbosacral strain.

The appeal for service connection for allergic rhinitis and irritable bowel syndrome was dismissed based on the Veteran's explicit withdrawal of the claims. The claim for service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied due to a lack of evidence linking TBI to active duty service.