The Veteran's claim for a back disability was incorrectly determined to be an orthopedic condition instead of a manifestation of her service-connected fibromyalgia. The effective date for the grant of service connection for fibromyalgia is now set at May 15, 2007, and she is granted an initial rating of 40%.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's back pain was determined to be a symptom associated with her fibromyalgia, thus subsuming the separate claim for a back disability within the context of her service-connected fibromyalgia.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Disability, Fibromyalgia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- February 24, 2016
- Citation
- 1607179
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 1607179.
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 determined that the VA rating decision denying service connection for a right knee disability and a back disability is not supported by adequate medical opinions, and thus remands the case for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection of a left knee disability, back disability, and left elbow disability must be remanded due to inadequate VA examinations. The Veteran provided lay reports of symptoms but the VA examiners did not consider these reports in their conclusions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection based on CUE in rating decisions have been dismissed.,The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection based on CUE in rating decisions have been dismissed.,The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection based on CUE in rating decisions have been dismissed.,The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection based on CUE in rating decisions have been dismissed.,The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection based on CUE in rating decisions have been dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The reduction of the disability rating for headaches from 50% to 30% is not proper and is void ab initio. Effective dates are denied for various service connection claims.,Multiple issues related to initial disability ratings, effective dates, and earlier effective dates for higher ratings are remanded.
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