The Veteran's heart condition (syncope) is not service connected. The claims for right and left hip disabilities secondary to the back disability are granted, as well as the claim for depressive disorder due to service-connected migraines, knee disabilities, and a back disability. The rating for migraines remains at 30 percent.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's heart condition is not linked to her service. The right and left hip disabilities are found to be secondary to her service-connected back disability. The depressive disorder is found to be caused by the Veteran's service-connected migraines, knee disabilities, and a back disability. The rating for migraines remains at 30 percent as there is no evidence of very frequent prostrating and prolonged attacks.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart condition (claimed as syncope), Depressive disorder, Right hip disability secondary to back disability, Left hip disability secondary to back disability, Migraines
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19102711
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 19102711.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial evaluation for tension headaches to include migraines is granted, with a rating of 50 percent effective from May 23, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for tension and migraine headaches is remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2020 VA examination report, which did not consider the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has identified a contradiction in the AOJ's determinations regarding the Veteran's need for aid and assistance, which requires clarification. The remanded issues are entitlement to SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another and on the basis of statutory housebound status.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for his migraine headaches was denied as the evidence did not show that his migraines were productive of severe economic inadaptability.
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