The Veteran's migraine headaches are currently rated at 30 percent, but the Board has found that they meet the criteria for a 50 percent rating.,The Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress is currently rated at 50 percent. The Board has determined that it does not warrant a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The January 2019 VA examination found that the Veteran’s headaches satisfied the requirements for a 50 percent rating, which requires very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.,The December 2018 VA examination found that the Veteran's depressive disorder caused occupational and social impairment with an occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform tasks.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 24, 2019
- Citation
- A19002240
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19002240.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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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