The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates, granted an earlier effective date for major depressive disorder, and remanded service connection for costochondritis.
The deciding factor: The severity of the veteran's migraines did not warrant a higher rating, and there was no evidence of entitlement to an earlier effective date prior to October 20, 2022. The veteran's major depressive disorder warranted an earlier effective date due to timely filing within one year of symptom onset.
- Claimed conditions
- migraines, major depressive disorder (MDD), costochondritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25094540
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 734 · Granted: 31% (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 A25094540.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for migraines was reopened due to new evidence. Service connection is granted for painful scars, but the rating assigned remains at 10 percent. The claims for fibromyalgia and bilateral shoulder disability are denied.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Dismissed
The appeal concerning the service connection claims for various conditions and initial compensable evaluations for service-connected erectile dysfunction and bilateral hearing loss is dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's migraines, effective April 30, 2026. The decision found that the Veteran's migraine headaches caused characteristic very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.
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