The Veteran's service-connected disabilities preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation, resulting in the grant of TDIU. The SMC based on loss of use claim is remanded for further consideration.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s service-connected conditions, including migraine headaches, depressive disorder, cervical spine degenerative arthritis, lumbar strain, peripheral neuropathy, and keratoconus, render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, lumbar sprain, median peripheral neuropathy of the right hand, median peripheral neuropathy of the left hand, keratoconus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 90%
- Decision date
- July 12, 2018
- Citation
- 18117731
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 18117731.
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 remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are productive of very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks capable of producing severe economic inadaptability. The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected migraine headaches was granted with an effective date of February 28, 2023.
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