The Board has granted a higher initial evaluation of 30 percent for the veteran's degenerative disorder of the cervical spine, effective from April 1, 2000. The claims for service connection for headaches and photophobia remain unresolved.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the veteran’s cervical spine disability is equivalent to severe limitation of motion with pain on use, warranting a 30 percent evaluation under Diagnostic Code 5290.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache Disorder, Photophobia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- June 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0618068
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 0618068.
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 Board denied service connection for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Headache Disorder due to lack of in-service diagnosis or treatment, and the absence of a causal relationship between these conditions and service. The claim for Headache Disorder is remanded for further evaluation.
- Granted
An effective date of April 11, 2022, but no earlier, for the award of service connection for a headache disorder is granted. A 30 percent rating, but no more, for a headache disorder is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examinations and medical opinions provided prior to the January 2025 decision on appeal were inadequate. The Veteran's claim for service connection for a headache disorder, which is secondary to his service-connected disabilities, must be remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Partly granted
The appeal of the issue of whether new and relevant evidence has been submitted to warrant readjudication of entitlement to service connection for sterility is dismissed.,Service connection for a depressive disorder as secondary to service-connected bilateral hearing loss is granted.
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