The Veteran's migraine headaches are currently rated at the maximum allowable under VA regulations. The appeal to increase this rating is denied.,New evidence has been added to the record that suggests a possible positive nexus between the Veteran’s stomach disability and her military service. As such, the claim for service connection of the stomach disability is granted as new and material evidence has been received.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disabilities (PTSD and other specified depressive disorder and other specified trauma- and stressor-related disorder) are reopened due to new evidence that suggests a possible positive nexus between her current diagnoses and military service. The claim for service connection of the acquired psychiatric disability is granted as new and material evidence has been received.,The Veteran's right knee disability is remanded for further examination and rating consideration.,The Veteran's left knee disability is remanded for further examination and rating consideration.,The Veteran's stomach disability (likely GERD) is remanded to determine if it is related to service, specifically the November 1981 diagnosis of mild gastroenteritis or a report of coughing up blood during service.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disabilities are remanded for further examination and rating consideration. The examiner must also consider whether her PTSD is related to an in-service personal assault.,The Veteran's low back disability is remanded for further examination and rating consideration.
The deciding factor: There is no legal basis for a higher schedular evaluation of the Veteran’s migraine headaches as they are currently rated at the maximum allowable under VA regulations (50 percent).,New evidence has been added to the record that suggests a possible positive nexus between the Veteran's stomach disability and her military service. As such, the claim is reopened.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disabilities have been reopened due to new evidence suggesting a possible positive nexus with her military service. The claim for service connection of these conditions is granted as new and material evidence has been received.,The right and left knee disabilities require further examination and rating consideration due to the lack of compliance with VA examination requirements in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016), and Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017).,The stomach disability requires further examination to determine if it is related to service, specifically the November 1981 diagnosis of mild gastroenteritis or a report of coughing up blood during service.,The acquired psychiatric disabilities require further examination and rating consideration. The examiner must also consider whether her PTSD is related to an in-service personal assault.,The low back disability requires further examination and rating consideration.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, stomach disability (duodenal ulcer), acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD and other specified depressive disorder and other specified trauma- and stressor-related disorder)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2020
- Citation
- 20008302
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 20008302.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are productive of very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks capable of producing severe economic inadaptability. The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected migraine headaches was granted with an effective date of February 28, 2023.
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