The Veteran's headache disorder is granted as secondary to his service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disorders.,Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder) is remanded due to the need for additional evidence.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s headaches are found to be secondary to his service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disabilities, while the claims for a psychiatric disorder and memory loss require further development of medical records.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache disorder, Acquired psychiatric disorder (schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder), Memory loss
- 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
- 19125470
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 19125470.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's left ankle disability and headache disorder secondary to PTSD with alcohol use disorder have been granted increased ratings, effective September 16, 2018.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's headache disorder is remanded for further examination and opinion to determine if it is related to service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to readjudicate his claims for service connection for PTSD (claimed as schizophrenia), headaches, and schizophrenia. The claim for memory loss and residuals of head injury remains denied due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, headache disorder, and stroke residuals are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors. The AOJ needs to determine if the Veteran participated in a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) during his honorable period of active service from March 1982 to September 1985 and obtain VA examinations for hypertension, stroke residuals, and headaches.
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