The Board granted a 60 percent rating for residuals of gallbladder surgery and a 10 percent rating for residual scar, status post gallbladder surgery. The tension headaches were denied as the maximum schedular rating was already in place.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the severity of symptoms from the gallbladder surgery and scar, which warranted higher ratings, while the tension headaches did not meet criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- tension headaches, residuals of gallbladder surgery (including GERD), residual scar, status post gallbladder surgery
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25035175
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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