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Denied

The Veteran's service connection claim for a right shoulder disability is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability related to his active duty service.,The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for headaches and PTSD are also denied. The Board found that the symptoms do not meet the criteria for higher ratings under VA’s General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.,No specific exposure basis was provided, and there is no indication of a presumption or secondary service connection.

The deciding factor: The evidence does not show any current right shoulder disability related to service. The Veteran's headaches do not meet the criteria for a higher rating as they are not characterized by very frequent, completely prostrating, and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.,PTSD symptoms were found to be consistent with a 30 percent evaluation, indicating occupational and social impairment but without significant reduction in reliability or productivity.

Claimed conditions
Right Shoulder Disability, Headaches, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 17, 2018
Citation
A18000082

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 A18000082.

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