The Veteran's headaches are found to have started in service and granted service connection.,Service connection for intervertebral disc syndrome of the cervical spine is denied as there is no evidence it began during service.
The deciding factor: Service treatment records do not show any chronicity of care or continuity of symptoms related to a cervical spine condition, and the Veteran's current diagnosis is more likely due to natural aging process.
- Claimed conditions
- Headaches, Intervertebral disc syndrome of the cervical spine, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Arthritis of the right hand, Right hip disability, Right foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2024
- Citation
- 24002576
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 703 · Granted: 47% (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 24002576.
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 denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as secondary to PTSD, but his headaches are denied due to lack of service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's right and left foot disabilities are currently rated at 10 percent each, but the Board found that they do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches, which manifested as very frequent and prolonged attacks causing severe economic inadaptability, are granted a 50 percent disability rating for the entire period on appeal.
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