The veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation solely as a result of his service-connected disabilities, and the combined disability rating meets the criteria for TDIU effective August 11, 2003.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability, headaches, and residuals of a head injury significantly limit his ability to work, particularly in jobs requiring significant physical effort or neck movement. The VA examiners concluded that these conditions may limit his employability, and there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding unemployability.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability (degenerative changes, disc bulge C3-4, C4-5, C5-6 with spinal stenosis, status post C3-4, C4-5, anterior cervical fusion), Headaches, Residuals of a head injury with a scar on the left side of the head
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- April 16, 2008
- Citation
- 0812697
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 0812697.
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.
- 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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