Citation Nr: 18160628
Decision Date: 12/27/18	Archive Date: 12/27/18

DOCKET NO. 10-19 056
DATE:	December 27, 2018
REMANDED ISSUE
The issue of entitlement to service connection for headaches is remanded.  
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1989 to January 1993.
The Board denied the issue on appeal in July 2017.  The Veteran appealed the denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  By order dated in July 2018, the Court granted the parties Joint Motion for Partial Remand (Joint Motion) and remanded the matter for compliance with its instructions.  
In pertinent part, the Joint Motion noted VA medical opinions obtained pursuant to prior Board remands were inadequate because they did not consider the Veteran’s competent lay assertions.   A new examination and opinion are needed.  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the nature and likely etiology of his migraine headaches.  Copies of all pertinent records should be made available to the examiner for review.  Based on the examination and review of the record, the examiner should answer the following: 
Is it at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater) that a headache disorder was manifest in service or is otherwise causally related to service? The lack of objective evidence of treatment in service or shortly after CANNOT be the basis of a negative opinion. 
The examiner is to specifically consider and address the Veteran’s competent assertions regarding his in-service headache symptoms and post-service continuity of such symptoms.
The examiner must explain the rationale for all opinions, citing to supporting factual data and medical literature, as appropriate.  If the examiner determines that the questions cannot be resolved without resorting to speculation, then an explanation as to why this is so must be provided.
 
M.E. Larkin
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J. Davitian, Counsel

For A Complete Guide To VA Disability Claims and to find out more about your potential VA disability case and how to obtain favorable VA Rating Decision! Visit: VA-Claims.org

For More Information on Veterans Disability Compensation Benefits! Visit: DisableVeteran.org ~ A Non-Profit Non Governmental Agency