Single Judge Application; migraine; Holmes v. Wilkie, 33 Vet.App. 67, 73 (2020) (explaining that the word “migraine” contemplates a range of symptoms beyond headaches);

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Designated for electronic publication only
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS
No. 20-0947
BERNARD M. DICKENS, APPELLANT,
V.
DENIS MCDONOUGH,
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.
Before TOTH, Judge.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
Note: Pursuant to U.S. Vet. App. R. 30(a), this action may not be cited as precedent.
TOTH, Judge: Army veteran Bernard M. Dickens appeals a 2020 Board decision denying service connection for migraine headaches and depression as secondary to his migraine headaches. Service connection is established when a veteran can show (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. See Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018). There is no dispute that Mr. Dickens’s service treatment records (STRs) demonstrate that he complained of a headache during service and that he was diagnosed with migraine headaches in 2014. This case hinges entirely on whether the evidence established a nexus between Mr. Dickens’s in-service headaches and his current migraine condition or his depression and his current migraine condition. The Board found that the evidence of record weighed against a finding of nexus and, finding no clear error in the Board’s weighing of evidence, the Court affirms.
Mr. Dickens served in the Army for 6 months, from March to September 1981. In August 1981 he was experiencing cold symptoms, including a headache, and sought medical treatment at the Kenner Army Community Hospital.
2
In March 2014 he filed a claim for service

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