Veterans’ RightsAn independent resource for veterans
← All decisions
Denied

Service connection for fatigue, including chronic fatigue syndrome, is denied.,An initial rating in excess of 50 percent for migraine headaches is denied.,An effective date earlier than April 5, 2016, for the award of service connection for migraine headaches is denied.

The deciding factor: The Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of a separate disability manifested by fatigue and has not had one at any time during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing of the claim.,There is no reasonable doubt to be resolved in favor of the Veteran, and service connection cannot be granted on a secondary basis or otherwise.,The effective date for an award of disability compensation based on direct service connection is fixed in accordance with the facts found. In this case, VA received the Veteran’s claim for service connection for migraine headaches on April 5, 2016.

Claimed conditions
Fatigue, Migraine Headaches, Sleep Disorder
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 10, 2019
Citation
19192130

Veterans Law Judge

Bethany L. Buck

Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 19192130.

What this means for you

A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.

What you can do next

Related decisions

Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.

Free starter guide for your own claim

Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.

We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.

We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.

This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.