Citation Nr: 21022878 Decision Date: 04/19/21 Archive Date: 04/19/21 DOCKET NO. 16-35 789 DATE: April 19, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to an earlier effective date of January 10, 2015 for an increased 50 rating for migraine headaches is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s migraines have been productive of very frequent completely prostrating attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability since January 10, 2015. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an earlier effective date of January 10, 2015 for an increased 50 rating for migraine headaches are met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 4.136, 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8100. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1990 to May 2012. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Atlanta, Georgia. The matter was previously before the Board, in December 2019. At that time, the Board granted an increased rating of 50 percent for the Veteran’s migraines, effective September 12, 2016. The Veteran appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). Pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) entered into by the Veteran and VA, the issue of the effective date for the 50 percent rating for migraines was remanded to the Board. Effective Date Pursuant to the terms of the JMR, the Board is required to determine the earliest date that the Veteran manifested migraine symptoms commensurate with the 50 percent rating criteria for migraines. Generally, the effective date of an award of increased compensation shall be the earliest date as of which it is ascertainable that an increase in disability had occurred. See 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(3). Swain v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 219, 223-24 (2015). As relevant here, the 50 percent rating for migraine headaches is assigned for very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability. 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8100. The Board finds that the competent and medical lay evidence of record supports a 50 percent rating for the Veteran’ migraines from January 10, 2015. The Veteran reported to the January 2015 VA examiner that she experienced 3 to 4 headaches per week that affected her ability to work and prevented her from being able to drive. The Veteran’s husband, a friend and her supervisor submitted statements in February, March and April 2015 attesting to their observations of the Veteran’s migraines, including her sensitivity to light and sounds, need for silence and darkness until the pain subsides and need for medication to get through the workday. The Veteran also submitted her own statement and testified at the November 2019 Board hearing that she had prostrating attacks three times a week with sensitivity to light and the need to take medication to deal with them. The Veteran also testified that she was on medication for her migraines and that they affected her ability to work, requiring accommodations for her employer. The lay statements and testimony, a September 2016 Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) and VA treatment records are consistent with the Veteran’s report of prostrating headaches that are controlled by medication and affect her employment. As the rating criteria for migraines do not explicitly contemplate the ameliorative effects of medication, the assigned rating should contemplate the nature and frequency of characteristic prostrating attacks that would occur without medication. 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8100; Jones v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 56, 63 (2012). As the evidence of record reflects that the Veteran’s migraines occurred 3 to 4 times per week, were ameliorated by medication and affected her employment since January 2015, the Board finds that an effective date of January 10, 2015 is the earliest ascertainable date for the increased rating. Accordingly, the 50 percent rating for migraines assigned effective January 10, 2015. S.C. KREMBS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Snyder, 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.