The Board has decided that the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his sinus condition and chronic headaches, as well as his TDIU claim, require additional development due to incomplete information or evidence.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was unable to adequately address the current severity of the Veteran’s headache symptoms without running afoul of the prohibition of pyramiding in 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. The Board also requires a retrospective opinion based on the record to determine symptomatology associated with the Veteran's headache disability throughout the appeal period and also the symptoms associated with the sinus condition.
- Claimed conditions
- sinus condition (now claimed as chronic sinusitis and breathing problems), chronic headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20002421
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 27% (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 20002421.
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 effective date for service connection of left leg amputation and associated scars, as well as SMC based on loss of use of the left leg, is set to January 28, 2022. The effective date for DEA eligibility is also set to January 28, 2022. An effective date prior to January 28, 2022, was denied for service connection of chronic headaches.
- Granted
Service connection for chronic headaches and restoration of a 20 percent disability rating for the service-connected left wrist strain are granted.,The appeal to restore a higher disability rating for the broken right foot is dismissed.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including a left wrist fracture, bilateral hearing loss, Type II diabetes, bilateral glaucoma, OSA, cervical disc herniation, and other musculoskeletal issues are denied.,Service connection is not established for any of the claimed conditions.
- Granted
Major depressive disorder is granted as service connected.,Chronic headaches are readjudicated and granted due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran.
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