The Veteran's claim for service connection for migraine headaches was denied in January 2009 due to lack of available STRs. The claim was reconsidered after the STRs were obtained, and it was confirmed that service connection could not be granted based on those records. The Veteran did not appeal within one year, nor did he submit new evidence within a year. He filed another claim for reopening in December 2014, which resulted in an effective date of December 18, 2014. The Board found no legal basis to grant an earlier effective date and denied the claim.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim was not based on newly discovered service records that could support a prior effective date under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c).
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2026
- Citation
- A26004201
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 A26004201.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between service, including a stick injury in England, and current left eye disability (including amblyopia and cataracts) as well as migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are productive of very frequent, completely prostrating and prolonged attacks capable of producing severe economic inadaptability. The Board has granted a 50 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected migraine headaches was granted with an effective date of February 28, 2023.
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