The Veteran's headache disorder is granted as service connected, with the Board finding that all three elements of service connection are met: a current disability (headache disorder), in-service incurrence or aggravation (in-service exposure to explosions and car accident), and a causal relationship between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred during service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's headache symptoms were present during active duty, and he reported that his headaches began after an explosion in Iraq. The Board found that the Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service exposure to explosions and car accident are credible and sufficient to establish a nexus between his current disability and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20067161
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, chronic rhinitis, and obstructive sleep apnea. The headache claim was remanded for further examination.
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- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims for tinnitus, a headache disorder, a foot disability, a left ankle disability, a low back disability, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and an acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disorders, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, neck, back, headache, right ankle, right knee, right shoulder, and right elbow disorders, penile disorder (erectile dysfunction), and sleep apnea, to correct a pre-decisional error by verifying the Veteran's duty status in January 2017 and obtaining additional medical opinions.
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