The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for major depressive disorder has been granted, effective January 25, 2008.,New evidence received since the final November 2014 rating decision has reopened the claims of service connection for migraine headaches and gastrointestinal problems (including constipation), both to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's major depressive disorder more nearly approximates occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in social relationships, thinking, and mood.,The new evidence includes additional VA treatment records, private treatment records, and lay assertions of the Veteran, which tend to relate to a previously unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the underlying claim of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, gastrointestinal problems (including constipation), lymphedema, venous insufficiency
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20066926
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 20066926.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's lymphedema, which may be related to Agent Orange exposure or service-connected conditions.
- 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.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.