An effective date of May 20, 2014 for a 50 percent disability rating for migraines is granted.,An effective date of May 20, 2014 for a 20 percent disability rating for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is granted. The periumbilical scar secondary to service-connected scar status post tubal litigation also receives an effective date of May 20, 2014.
The deciding factor: The increase in disability ratings for migraines and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine occurred within one year prior to receipt of the claim on February 12, 2015. The private medical report dated May 20, 2014 provided evidence that the Veteran's conditions had worsened.,The effective date for service connection is based on the date VA received the claim for an increased disability rating, which was February 12, 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- Migraines, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Periumbilical scar (secondary to service-connected scar status post tubal litigation)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- April 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19126548
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · Granted: 36% (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 19126548.
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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
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