The Veteran's tension headaches are found to be secondary to her service-connected cervical spine disability.,Service connection for an anxiety disorder is granted as it is related to the Veteran’s service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disabilities.,Service connection for radiculopathy of the right upper extremity and left lower extremity is denied due to lack of current diagnosis.,Service connection for a heart condition is denied as there is no evidence linking the disability to service.,The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability remains at 20% since August 9, 2017.
The deciding factor: The most probative medical opinion concluded that the tension headaches were caused by her service-connected cervical spine disability.,The March 2015 private opinion from Dr. H. H. G. found that the Veteran's spinal disabilities aggravated her anxiety disorder, resulting in a decline in quality of life and isolation tendencies.,There is no current diagnosis of radiculopathy of the right upper and left lower extremities; the April 2013 and August 2017 VA examiners determined she did not have these conditions.,The Veteran's post-service treatment records show a diagnosis of chronic congestive heart failure, but there is no evidence linking this to service.,There is no probative evidence showing that the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability has worsened since August 9, 2017.
- Claimed conditions
- tension headaches, anxiety disorder, radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, heart condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125276
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,020 · Granted: 19% (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 19125276.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the claims on appeal, including obtaining any outstanding treatment records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the current severity of service-connected disabilities. The Veteran's representative also requested reevaluation of his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD was granted with an initial evaluation of 50 percent, effective September 24, 2007. The appeal regarding the heart condition and sleep disorder is denied. The Veteran's hearing loss prior to August 24, 2015, warrants a 20 percent rating.
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