The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for TBI, to include as secondary to his service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD), due to insufficient evidence in the August 2016 VA examination.
The deciding factor: The August 2016 VA examiner concluded that he was unable to render a diagnosis of neurocognitive disorder due to inconsistency and variability of the Veteran's performance on neuropsychological testing, which is inadequate for determining the nature and etiology of any neurocognitive disorder, including TBI.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Numbness of upper and lower extremities, Memory loss, Irritability, Blurred vision, Migraines, Sleep impairment
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20035068
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 20035068.
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 initial evaluation for tension headaches to include migraines is granted, with a rating of 50 percent effective from May 23, 2023.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its residuals, including unsteady gait, somnolence, and cognitive dysfunction. The decision is based on the Veteran's credible lay statements about in-service head injuries and subsequent seizures.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and therefore, service connection for TBI is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for tension and migraine headaches is remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2020 VA examination report, which did not consider the ameliorative effects of medication.
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