Board decisions
What the Board granted and denied for fibromyalgia
In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 3,838 issues about fibromyalgia. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 36 percent. It sent 51 percent of all these issues back for more work.
Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.
Since 2019
112 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 197 were dismissed or withdrawn. 16 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.
Across every year we have indexed, that is 9,272 issues across 7,853 decisions, 34 percent granted of the ones decided, and 50 percent sent back for more work.
What a remand is
A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.
What showed up in the decisions
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| What the decision mentions | Granted1,345 issues | Denied2,572 issues |
|---|---|---|
| A medical opinion, or the words nexus or at least as likely as not, anywhere in the decision | 81 percent | 84 percent |
| The words lay statement, buddy statement, or lay evidence | 54 percent | 65 percent |
| A hearing was held (the veteran or a witness testified) | 51 percent | 39 percent |
| The decision calls an exam or medical opinion inadequate | 11 percent | 8 percent |
These are mentions in the written decision, not reasons for the outcome. A denied issue can mention a doctor's opinion just as a granted one does. Whether the opinion was for or against the claim, and the reasons it gave, are not something these counts can see. Each item is counted for the whole decision, so it may concern another issue decided in the same document.
Claimed together
A pair gets its own page once it appears at least 60 times and the Board decided at least 15 of them. Pairs below that are in the data but have no page. A page states a percentage only once the Board has decided 20 of them. Below that it shows how many were decided and no percentage, because a rate on a handful of decisions reads as precision it does not have.
Claimed as secondary to fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia claimed as secondary to something else
Fibromyalgia secondary to PTSD
Since 2019: 46 issues paired
Fibromyalgia secondary to depression or anxiety
Since 2019: 45 issues paired
Fibromyalgia secondary to lower back conditions
Since 2019: 20 issues paired
Five recent decisions about fibromyalgia
A past Board decision binds only the case it decided, and the Board decides each case on its own facts. Another veteran's decision is not evidence about your condition. Read these to see what evidence the Board weighed, so you know what to gather for your own claim.
- June 30, 2026Granted
Entitlement to service connection for fibromyalgia
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 25, 2026Denied
Entitlement to an evaluation in excess of 40 percent for fibromyalgia
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 24, 2026Granted
Entitlement to service connection for fibromyalgia
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 23, 2026Granted
From April 30, 2015, to December 16, 2025, service connection for fibromyalgia
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 11, 2026Denied
Entitlement to service connection for fibromyalgia
Read the decision at VA.gov
What this means for you
The schedule rates fibromyalgia on widespread pain and tender points, on whether the pain is constant or comes and goes, and on whether treatment controls it. The rating turns on those three things, not on degrees of motion.
For a first claim, the diagnosis is the floor. A doctor's note that names fibromyalgia and records the tender points is what the claim rests on, together with the link to service or to a presumption. For a Gulf War veteran the rule names fibromyalgia as a covered illness.
For a higher rating, bring the treatment records that show how the pain behaves over time and what has been tried. Say how many days a month the pain is there, and what a flare stops you from doing.
First time here?
This site is one veteran's method for a VA disability claim, built on the Board's own decisions. Everything under Decisions is free and there is nothing to sign up for. One page per condition and one per pairing, each built from what the Board granted, denied and sent back, with the decisions themselves linked at their source.
Keep reading
Board decisions by condition
Every condition family and the secondary pairs that appeared most, counted from 1,501,587 Board decisions.
How to Read a Board of Veterans' Appeals Decision
Where VA Board decisions live and how to read one in ten minutes, using a real back case.
Lay Evidence and Buddy Statements That Hold Up at the Board
Who can write a statement for you, what they can say, and how the VA weighs it, with prompts for knee, back, sleep apnea, and PTSD.
Sources
- The rule that Board decisions are not precedent, 38 CFR 20.1303.
An issue is counted in a family by its diagnostic code or by the words in the issue. One issue can be counted in more than one family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. The example decisions are recent ones we could link whose issue names this condition, chosen so that both outcomes are shown when we have them. Reopened claims and effective-date disputes are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours. Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.