The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for chronic headaches and increased evaluations for his right shoulder, cervical spine, and lumbar spine disabilities due to failure to report for a necessary VA examination. The claim of PTSD is remanded as additional information regarding the veteran's claimed stressors is needed.
The deciding factor: The veteran failed to report for a necessary VA examination which was required to rate his service-connected right shoulder disorder, residuals of cervical spine injury, and residuals of lumbar spine injury.
- Claimed conditions
- Occipital neuralgia, Vascular headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 25, 2001
- Citation
- 0123354
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 0123354.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) but denied a compensable rating for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for urinary problems, SMC based on aid and attendance of the Veteran, and TDIU due to service-connected disabilities are being remanded as there is a need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of his urinary problems.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine and separate ratings for lower extremity radiculopathy. Service connection for occipital neuralgia was also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial rating for tension including migraine-variant headaches and occipital neuralgia was granted at a 30 percent from May 22, 2003 to February 10, 2012. From February 10, 2012, the Veteran is entitled to an initial rating of 50 percent.
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