The Board has granted service connection for headaches due to an in-service head injury and secondary to service-connected vascular dementia. The Veteran's joint pain conditions are denied as not related to service or a cold injury, and the scars on his left occipital area and right eyebrow are rated at 30 percent.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there is no evidence of current disabilities affecting the joints beginning during service or being related to an in-service cold injury. The Veteran's headaches were determined to be secondary to service-connected vascular dementia, which was established by a VA psychiatrist’s opinion. The scars on his left occipital area and right eyebrow are rated at 30 percent based on their characteristics as per Diagnostic Code 7800.
- Claimed conditions
- Joint pain of left shoulder, Joint pain of wrists, Joint pain of hands, Joint pain of knees, Joint pain of ankles, Joint pain of low back, Joint pain of neck/cervical
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- July 25, 2018
- Citation
- 18121110
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 18121110.
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 case due to insufficient evidence regarding the service connection for joint pain of the hands, left elbow, and right knee. The Veteran's claim is not about service connection at all.
- Denied
The Veteran's claimed conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple joint pain (excluding knees and elbows), respiratory disorder, and sleep disturbance, are not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran did not have a qualifying chronic disability related to his Persian Gulf War service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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