The Veteran's service connection claims for bilateral flat feet, unspecified anxiety disorder with posttraumatic stress disorder (psychiatric disability), migraine headaches, and kidney disability have been granted. The claim for acne was denied. Effective November 17, 2015, the Veteran is now receiving a 70 percent rating for his psychiatric disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no current left shoulder disability or cervical spine disability related to service. For other conditions, there were no in-service injuries or diseases that could be linked to current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Acne, Bilateral Flat Feet, Left Shoulder Strain, Cervical Spine Disability, Abnormal Weight Loss, Hearing Loss, Sleep Apnea/Sleep Disturbance, Unspecified Anxiety Disorder with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Psychiatric Disability), Migraine Headaches, Tinnitus, Kidney Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104238
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 19104238.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Granted
The Veteran's 50% disability rating for migraine headaches was restored as the evidence did not show actual improvement in his ability to function under ordinary conditions of life and work.
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