The veteran's service-connected depression is found to be the cause of his headaches. The claim for arthritis of the left arm due to injury is denied as there is no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service injury. The veteran's gastrointestinal disorder, diagnosed during service, is well grounded and granted.
The deciding factor: The veteran's headaches are attributed to his service-connected depression, which meets the criteria for direct service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- headaches, arthritis of the left arm, gastrointestinal disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 11, 2000
- Citation
- 0012491
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0012491.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and increased ratings for left shoulder rotator cuff tear, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, hypertension, and left and right leg restless leg syndrome. The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Dismissed
The appeals for restoration of ratings and for a higher disability rating were dismissed as the April 2025 rating decision did not make final decisions on these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for Parkinson's disease/parkinsonism, a gastrointestinal disorder, a speech disorder, and essential tremor due to an inadequate VA examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a gastrointestinal disorder, to include gastritis and leiomyoma of the stomach but other than IBS with colon polyps, due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to service. The appeal was dismissed for hemorrhoids.
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