The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to address the inadequacies in the previous examinations and provide a more comprehensive opinion on service connection for migraines and the severity of the low back disability.
The deciding factor: The May 2016 VA examiner's opinion is inadequate, and there is no other medical opinion or examination of record. The December 2020 VA back conditions examination also had inadequacies that need to be corrected.
- Claimed conditions
- migraines
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25048156
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for migraines, finding that his symptoms more closely approximate a 30 percent disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for migraines, including as secondary to cervical strain, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors in not translating relevant Spanish documents and ensuring a VA examiner considered all evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a restoration of the separate 10 percent rating for vertigo, an earlier effective date for service connection for vertigo and migraines, and a 30 percent rating for hypothyroidism with heart murmur. The decision also denied an earlier effective date for hypertension and remanded claims for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and individual unemployability.
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