The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to a failure to complete requested VA examinations and provide adequate evidence. The Veteran is also being asked to clarify his psychiatric disability associated with residuals of a head injury, as well as the severity of his service-connected headache disorder.
The deciding factor: VA failed to afford the Veteran with adequate VA examinations which are required for proper evaluation of his claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache, Psychiatric disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- A20015824
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · 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 A20015824.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's psychiatric disability is currently rated at 30 percent, which is the lowest possible rating under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The Board found that his symptoms did not warrant a higher rating as they were intermittent and did not significantly impair his occupational or social functioning.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his psychiatric disability was the initial decision, and thus attorney fees are not eligible based on past due benefits awarded in April 2025.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found new and relevant evidence to readjudicate the claim for service connection for a headache disability. The case is being remanded for further review.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's motion to revise the May 2013 rating decision that denied a TDIU, finding no clear and unmistakable error.
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