The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for headaches as secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability and granted a 70 percent evaluation for anxiety disorder, including panic disorder and other specified depressive disorder, effective April 11, 2019.
The deciding factor: Both VA examiners found that the Veteran’s headaches were not caused by or aggravated by his service-connected back disability. The examiner also determined that the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating due to total occupational and social impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- headaches, anxiety disorder (including panic disorder and other specified depressive disorder)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192495
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19192495.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Partly granted
The Board has not made a final determination on the claims of service connection for inguinal hernia, PTSD, joint pain, fibromyalgia, left knee disability, right knee disability, tinnitus, chronic fatigue syndrome, respiratory disability, sleep disorder, IBS, and headaches. The claims are remanded to obtain additional evidence and determine if these conditions are related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for headaches was reopened due to new and material evidence, and the Board found that his current headaches are related to service. Service connection is granted.
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