The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance or being housebound.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not show that the Veteran is so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and assistance, nor is he permanently housebound due to his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- status post right radical mastectomy with absence of pectorals major and pectorals minor muscles, residual scar associated status post right radical mastectomy with absence of pectorals major and pectorals minor muscles, tension headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2018
- Citation
- 18144665
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 18144665.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including tension headaches, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral hearing loss disability. The Board also denied an initial compensable rating for the Veteran's headache disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims for service connection for tension headaches, insomnia, and anxiety disorder due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for tension headaches, alternatively diagnosed as migraine headaches, finding that the evidence did not show characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over the last several months.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a retrospective medical assessment regarding the severity of the Veteran's headaches without medication to determine if an earlier effective date for a 50 percent disability rating is warranted.
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