The Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches, major depressive disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder, and an increased disability rating for degenerative arthritis of the spine have been granted. The Veteran meets the current disability requirement and has met the in-service injury requirement with respect to her migraine headaches and major depressive disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder. The Board found that the evidence is approximately evenly balanced as to whether these conditions are related to service, thus granting service connection for them.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran's claims were supported by credible lay evidence of continuous symptoms since service, which outweighed any lack of contemporaneous medical records regarding head injuries or headaches.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, major depressive disorder and unspecified anxiety disorder, degenerative arthritis of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 23, 2026
- Citation
- A26025564
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 A26025564.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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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