The Veteran's COPD was not incurred in or aggravated by service, and the Board denied service connection for this condition.,For the whole period on appeal, radiculopathy caused moderate incomplete paralysis of both upper extremities. The Veteran received a rating of 40 percent prior to March 5, 2019 for right upper extremity radiculopathy and a rating of 30 percent after that date for left upper extremity radiculopathy.,The Veteran's cervical spine disability was rated as 10 percent before March 5, 2019 and 30 percent thereafter. The Board found no evidence to warrant higher ratings based on the severity of symptoms.,Migraine headaches were not manifested by very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's COPD was not linked to service, as there is no evidence of its onset during or shortly after service. The Board found that the Veteran did not provide credible arguments for a different outcome.,Radiculopathy caused moderate incomplete paralysis in both upper extremities, warranting ratings of 40 percent and 30 percent respectively. There was no evidence to support higher ratings based on severity of symptoms.,The cervical spine disability had flexion limited to 35 degrees with combined range of motion at 260 degrees without severe gait or spinal contour issues. The Board found that the Veteran's disability did not meet criteria for a higher rating as it did not cause severe incomplete paralysis or complete paralysis.,Migraine headaches were not manifested by very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks, thus not meeting the criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine with spinal stenosis, Migraine headaches, Radiculopathy, left upper extremity, Radiculopathy, right upper extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19166577
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · 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 19166577.
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The Board denied an increased initial disability rating for migraine headaches, finding that the Veteran's symptoms did not meet the criteria for a 50% rating due to lack of very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.
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