Citation Nr: 20030101 Decision Date: 04/29/20 Archive Date: 04/29/20 DOCKET NO. 14-15 729A DATE: April 29, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for service connection migraine headaches is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from July 1986 to October 1986 (Army), and from October 1987 to October 1991 (Navy). The Veteran was awarded the Southwest Asia Service Medal. The RO found that he served in the Southwest Asia Theater during the Persian Gulf War. See August 2011 Rating Decision. Accordingly, the Veteran is a Persian Gulf Veteran and the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1117 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.317 may apply if the Veteran is found to have a qualifying chronic disability. The Board denied the Veteran’s claim in a November 29, 2018 decision, and the Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The parties filed a Joint Motion for Remand (Joint Motion), and an October 2019 Order of the Court vacated the Board’s decision that denied the Veteran’s claim for an increased rating in excess of 30 percent for migraine headaches because it did not address the ameliorative effects of medication, failed to define subjective terms of degree such as “very frequent” and “prolonged,” and failed to address evidence favorable to the Veteran. Finally, the Board notes that the Veteran’s current attorney filed a motion to withdraw as the Veteran’s attorney in this matter in January 2020, in part based on the Veteran’s desire to discontinue their attorney-client relationship. As there has been no objection submitted by the Veteran in this regard, the Board finds that good cause has been demonstrated, and the motion will be granted. As the Board has granted the motion as part of this remand, this will constitute notice to the attorney that his motion has been granted and he will hereafter be removed as the Veteran’s attorney of record and will no longer have the authority to act on his behalf. While the case is in remand status, the Veteran will be given an opportunity to find other representation, should he choose to do so. Migraine Headaches First, the parties to the Joint Motion determined that the Board failed to adequately address whether it considered any ameliorative effects of medications that were noted in the December 2015 VA examination. The parties further noted that the Board failed to define the meaning of “very frequent” and “prolonged” in its determination that the Veteran’s headaches “have not resulted in very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.” Furthermore, the Board failed to address relevant evidence, as it did not address a March 2014 VA medical record that noted that the Veteran reported headaches three times per week that caused him to lay down to sleep if they occurred in the morning. However, due to the over four years since the last VA examination in December 2015, the Board finds that there is a potential worsening of the Veteran’s migraine headaches and that such examination would assist in addressing the issues raised by the parties to the Joint Motion. Thus, the Veteran should be afforded a new VA examination to assess the current nature and severity of his disability without consideration of the ameliorative effects of the Veteran’s headache medications. See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. In view of the Veteran’s attorney’s recent withdrawal of representation, give the Veteran a reasonable opportunity to find new representation. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of his service-connected headaches. The claims file must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner, and the examiner must specify in the examination report that these records have been reviewed. The examiner specifically should report the frequency and duration of any characteristic prostrating attacks attributable to the Veteran’s headaches, and the industrial impact of such episodes, without consideration of the ameliorative effects of medications. The examiner should also specifically address the March 2014 VA medical record that noted that the Veteran reported headaches three times per week that caused him to lay down to sleep if they occurred in the morning. A thorough and complete rationale should be provided in support of any opinions rendered by the examiner in response to this request. Michael J. Skaltsounis Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Daniels, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.