The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the service-connected tension headaches prior to January 12, 2024, and denied an increased rating in excess of 50 percent from that date. The Board also granted a disability rating of 60 percent for the left knee degenerative joint disease status post total knee replacement prior to March 7, 2022.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's tension headaches were found to be productive of very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that were productive of severe economic inadaptability. The lumbar spine degenerative joint disease was rated based on the severity of pain and functional impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- tension headaches, left knee degenerative joint disease status post total knee replacement, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25004728
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
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 various conditions, including tension headaches, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral hearing loss disability. The Board also denied an initial compensable rating for the Veteran's headache disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for tension headaches, alternatively diagnosed as migraine headaches, finding that the evidence did not show characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in 2 months over the last several months.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a retrospective medical assessment regarding the severity of the Veteran's headaches without medication to determine if an earlier effective date for a 50 percent disability rating is warranted.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for tension headaches, as the evidence did not show characteristic prostrating attacks averaging one in two months over the last several months.
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