The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection of headaches and increased ratings for his right thigh, left eye, left upper arm, and right hand disabilities. The headaches were not found to be caused by a service-connected disability. The right thigh disability was rated as moderately severe, but no higher rating is granted due to lack of aggravation. The left eye and left upper arm disabilities are both rated at 10 percent. The right hand disability does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.
The deciding factor: The veteran's headaches were found not to be caused by his service-connected shell fragment wound of the left eye, as they were attributed to uncorrected refractive error.
- Claimed conditions
- Headaches, Residuals of a shell fragment wound of the right thigh, Muscle Group XIII, Residuals of a shell fragment wound of the left eye with disfigurement and ptosis (without vision interference), Residuals of a shell fragment wound of the left upper arm, Muscle Group V, Residuals of a shell fragment wound of the right hand
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- February 7, 2001
- Citation
- 0103788
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0103788.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as secondary to PTSD, but his headaches are denied due to lack of service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches, which manifested as very frequent and prolonged attacks causing severe economic inadaptability, are granted a 50 percent disability rating for the entire period on appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for a 30 percent disability rating for his service-connected headaches, which was awarded with a noncompensable rating at 0 percent. The Board is remanding the claim due to inadequate examination and the need for a new VA examination to evaluate the severity of the Veteran's headaches without considering the ameliorating effects of any medication.
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