The Veteran's Chiari malformation and related conditions are remanded due to conflicting evidence regarding the diagnosis and etiology of her condition.,The Veteran's migraines, right foot condition, and other secondary service connection claims are also remanded for additional development.
The deciding factor: There is conflicting medical evidence regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s Chiari malformation and related conditions. The Veteran has not been provided with a VA examination to clarify these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- Arnold Chiari malformation, dysuria and frequent urination, difficulty swallowing, right bundle branch block (heart murmur and irregular heartbeat), skin condition (crawling skin), dizziness and balance problem, shortness of breath, increased sensitivity to noise, food, chemicals and odors, vision problems, migraines, right foot tendonitis, arthritis of back, chronic right elbow condition, cervical spine condition (neck tightness), sciatica, bursitis and tendonitis in right shoulder, right hand arthritis, bilateral carpal tunnel
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19182153
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (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 19182153.
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 claim for service connection for migraines was reopened due to new evidence. Service connection is granted for painful scars, but the rating assigned remains at 10 percent. The claims for fibromyalgia and bilateral shoulder disability are denied.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Dismissed
The appeal concerning the service connection claims for various conditions and initial compensable evaluations for service-connected erectile dysfunction and bilateral hearing loss is dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's migraines, effective April 30, 2026. The decision found that the Veteran's migraine headaches caused characteristic very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.
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