Board decisions
What the Board granted and denied for traumatic brain injury
In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, veterans raised 14,057 issues about traumatic brain injury. Of the ones it decided, the Board granted 35 percent. It sent 48 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
398 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 862 were dismissed or withdrawn. 126 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.
Across every year we have indexed, that is 34,380 issues across 27,389 decisions, 30 percent granted of the ones decided, and 47 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 | Granted4,543 issues | Denied10,534 issues |
|---|---|---|
| A medical opinion, or the words nexus or at least as likely as not, anywhere in the decision | 72 percent | 75 percent |
| The words lay statement, buddy statement, or lay evidence | 56 percent | 60 percent |
| A hearing was held (the veteran or a witness testified) | 46 percent | 36 percent |
| The decision calls an exam or medical opinion inadequate | 10 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 traumatic brain injury
Migraines secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 229 issues paired, 38 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 157 issues paired, 60 percent granted of the ones decided
Sleep apnea secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 158 issues paired, 50 percent granted of the ones decided
Eye conditions secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 97 issues paired, 17 percent granted of the ones decided
Vertigo secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 75 issues paired, 29 percent granted of the ones decided
PTSD secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 47 issues paired
Neck conditions secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 33 issues paired
Hearing loss secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 38 issues paired
Tinnitus secondary to traumatic brain injury
Since 2019: 22 issues paired
Traumatic brain injury claimed as secondary to something else
Five recent decisions about traumatic brain injury
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, 2026Denied
Entitlement to service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 24, 2026Denied
Service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 23, 2026Denied
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent prior to January 2, 2013, and to a rating higher than 70 percent from January 2, 2013, for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 18, 2026Granted
Entitlement to a 70 percent rating for residuals of traumatic brain injury and other specified anxiety disorder
Read the decision at VA.gov - June 17, 2026Granted
Entitlement to a 70 percent rating, but no higher, for service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with alcohol use disorder, to include traumatic brain injury (TBI), prior to January 13, 2020
Read the decision at VA.gov
What this means for you
Three things carry a traumatic brain injury claim. The injury in service, which means the incident, any loss of consciousness, and the medic's or hospital note. A current diagnosis of residuals from a qualified provider. And an exam that scores the residuals the way the schedule asks.
For the rating, the schedule scores ten facets, each from zero to three: memory and concentration, judgment, social interaction, orientation, motor activity, visual spatial ability, subjective symptoms such as headaches, neurobehavioral effects, communication, and consciousness. The highest facet level sets the percentage, and a facet at the top level is rated total. Say how each of these shows up in a normal week.
Emotional or behavioral symptoms are rated under the mental health schedule only when a mental disorder is diagnosed. Without that diagnosis they are scored in the facet table. Physical residuals, such as headaches, seizures, or hearing loss, are rated under their own codes.
The secondary rule has a paragraph for traumatic brain injury. It presumes certain listed conditions to be the result of a service-connected brain injury, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, and most of them only after a moderate or severe injury and within a set time. Read the rule's own list rather than a summary of it.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Pack
Everything the Board has decided about traumatic brain injury, in one file. How the VA rates it, what gets claimed with it and how often each one was granted, and the decisions to read yourself. No account and nothing to fill in.
See what is in it Go to cart ()
$15, one time. Add as many conditions as you need and pay once.
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.