The Board has decided the Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches and initial compensable disability ratings for postoperative scars of the left shoulder. The appeal for a higher rating for the left shoulder postoperative scars is denied. The appeal for a temporary total evaluation for rehabilitation of impingement of the left shoulder, postoperative is dismissed as there was no evidence of severe surgical wounds or immobilization by cast. The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for post-operative impingement of the left shoulder is remanded.
The deciding factor: The appeal for a higher rating for the left shoulder postoperative scars is denied as there was no evidence to support an increase beyond noncompensable. The appeal for a temporary total evaluation for rehabilitation of impingement of the left shoulder, postoperative is dismissed due to lack of documentation supporting severe surgical wounds or immobilization by cast.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, postoperative scars of the left shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19116339
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,890 · Granted: 32% (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 19116339.
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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