The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including psychiatric disorders, sleep disorder, headaches, breathing problems (asthma), bilateral shoulder disabilities, ankle disabilities, and knee disabilities, all of which were claimed as due to Persian Gulf War undiagnosed illness. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence was against a causal relationship between the Veteran's diagnosed conditions and his military service, including as due to Persian Gulf War undiagnosed illness.
- Claimed conditions
- Psychiatric disorder (including depression and PTSD), Sleep disorder, Headaches, Breathing problems (asthma), Bilateral shoulder disabilities, Bilateral ankle disabilities, Bilateral knee disabilities
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2011
- Citation
- 1146361
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 1146361.
What this means for you
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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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