The Board remanded the claims for service connection for a left knee injury and migraine headaches due to inadequate VA medical opinions, while denying readjudication of the propriety of severance of service connection for lumbar disc herniation at L5-S1 as new and relevant evidence was not submitted.
The deciding factor: The February 2021 VA examiner's opinion was found inadequate because it did not address the Veteran's lay statements, VA or private treatment records noting a history of chronic knee pain, and whether the service-connected right knee strain or pes planus aggravated the left knee condition. For migraine headaches, the Board noted that the evidence did not show an event, disease, or injury in service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar disc herniation at L5-S1, left knee injury, migraine headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25056302
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches, but no greater.
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