The appeal of entitlement to service connection for headaches is dismissed.,Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depressive and anxiety disorders, is granted.,Entitlement to service connection for muscle aches, to include as due to an undiagnosed illness, is denied.,Entitlement to service connection for joint pain manifesting in the knees, to include as due to an undiagnosed illness, is remanded.,Entitlement to service connection for a gastrointestinal disability manifesting in diarrhea, to include as due to a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness or an undiagnosed illness, is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal of entitlement to service connection for headaches prior to the Board's decision.,The competent and credible evidence of record reflects that symptoms of depression and anxiety began during service and have persisted since service.,There are no current abnormalities of the muscles, nor any complaints of generalized muscle aches in the medical records.,The Veteran reported experiencing joint pain manifesting in his knees, but did not provide details about an in-service event. The examiner will determine if there is a current disability and its relationship to service.,The Veteran reported symptoms of diarrhea, including fecal urgency immediately upon eating. A new opinion is needed to address these more detailed reports.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Joint Pain (manifesting in knees), Gastrointestinal Disability (manifesting in diarrhea)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19127034
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,863 · Granted: 26% (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 19127034.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
The Board denied eligibility to attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in a March 2024 rating decision because the March 2024 rating decision was an initial decision granting service connection for anxiety disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran's psychiatric disorder, specifically depressive disorder, is rated at 70 percent effective from August 3, 2021. The claim for a higher rating remains denied.
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