The veteran's post-traumatic headaches are rated at 30 percent, effective August 8, 1995. Service connection for a lumbar spine disability and tingling and numbness of the legs is granted. The veteran's cervical spine disability remains service-connected with a 60 percent rating.
The deciding factor: The veteran's post-traumatic headaches are rated at 30 percent based on their severity, which does not exceed that of migraine with characteristic prostrating attacks occurring once a month over the last several months. Service connection for a lumbar spine disability and tingling and numbness of the legs is granted as they are proximately due to or the result of the service-connected cervical spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability, Lumbar spine disability, Post-traumatic headaches, Tingling and numbness of the legs
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 29, 2003
- Citation
- 0301772
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 685 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0301772.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's post-traumatic headaches are currently rated at the maximum schedular rating of 50 percent, and there is no evidence to support a higher rating. The Board has determined that an extraschedular evaluation is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine condition had its onset in service and has continued since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.
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