The Board has remanded the claims for low back disability, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and migraine headaches due to their potential connection to service in the Gulf War theater of operations. The VA is required to provide a new examination to determine if these conditions are related to undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the previous examinations were inadequate and remanded for further evaluation, particularly regarding the presumptive service connection for Gulf War exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, migraine headaches
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191442
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 19191442.
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 migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's lumbar spine pain, allergic rhinitis, and recurrent yeast infections. The claims for service connection for generalized anxiety disorder with alcohol use disorder and left knee pain were remanded.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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