Neck / cervical spine decisions — 2019

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for hypertension, cervical spine disability, and sleep apnea due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran is not entitled to service connection for these conditions as there is no medical evidence showing they were incurred or aggravated in service.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including a back disability, neck disability, and left foot disorder, have rendered him incapable of securing or following substantially gainful employment from July 20, 2006, to February 23, 2016. The Board has therefore granted a TDIU rating for this period.

The Board has granted service connection for a neck disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is causally related to her military service.

The Veteran's service connection claims for various musculoskeletal conditions, hearing loss, tinnitus, heart condition, Parkinson’s disease, and acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD, anxiety, depression) have all been denied as the evidence does not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.

The Board has remanded the cases for additional development to obtain medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's cervical spine disability and Arnold Chiari malformation are related to his military service, and to evaluate subjective symptoms consistent with the disease.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability has been reopened and granted. The appeal is also granted as to the issue of entitlement to an increased rating for his cervical spine disability, but TDIU remains pending.

The Board has determined that additional VA medical opinions are necessary to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete or inaccurate factual premises in previous VA examination reports.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of the thoracolumbar spine or left leg, and therefore cannot establish service connection for these conditions. The cervical spine condition is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding its etiology.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and sleep impairments, is found to be related to his service. The cervical spine disability, left hand disability, and right hand disability are not considered to have originated during service or are otherwise linked to a service-connected condition.

The Board has remanded the claims for a compensable rating for headaches and TDIU due to unclear findings in the March 2016 VA examination report, which did not consider all procurable evidence. The examiner was instructed to clarify the severity of the Veteran's headaches since his claim was filed in October 1997.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for a traumatic brain injury with migraines and cervical spine disability due to inconsistencies in his reported incidents. The evidence does not support finding that he sustained a traumatic brain injury during service.

The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability and fibromyalgia, finding that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for these conditions based on lack of evidence of current diagnoses or a causal relationship to service.,The Board also found that there was no credible evidence of a diagnosis of fibromyalgia in the record.

The Veteran was granted an effective date of March 1, 1995 for the award of service connection for cervical radiculopathy of the bilateral upper extremities.,An earlier effective date for a higher rating for herniated intervertebral disc L5-S1 is denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current neck disability, including cervical degenerative disc disease and cervical stenosis with myelopathy, is related to his active naval service. As a result, the claim for service connection for this condition is granted.

The Veteran's cervical and lumbosacral strain disabilities have been granted service connection, but the RO assigned initial 10 percent evaluations. The Veteran disagrees with these ratings and has requested higher ratings. The Board finds that additional VA examinations are needed to determine the current severity of his cervical and lumbosacral spine conditions.

The Veteran's right knee disability, sleep apnea, cervical spine degenerative changes, radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of bilateral lower extremities, and hernia have been granted service connection. The Veteran is also entitled to increased ratings for his cervical spine degenerative changes, radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, and peripheral neuropathy of bilateral lower extremities.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient development and examination. The issues include right shoulder, middle finger, knee, foot, back, breast reduction surgery, cervical dysplasia (claimed as cancerous-type tissue), migraine headaches, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Veteran's cervical spine degenerative disc disease is currently rated at 30 percent, and the appeal for a higher rating is denied.,A separate 40 percent rating for right upper extremity radiculopathy as of May 10, 2017, is granted. The appeal for a higher rating is denied.,The Veteran's lumbar spine degenerative disc disease is currently rated at 20 percent and the appeal for a higher rating is denied.,A separate 10 percent rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy was proper prior to May 10, 2017. The appeal for a higher rating is denied.,The Veteran's surgical scar of the cervical spine is currently rated as noncompensable and the appeal for a higher rating is denied.,The Veteran's surgical scar of the lumbar spine was properly assigned a noncompensable rating and the appeal for a higher rating is denied.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including a lumbar spine disability, ocular disability, chronic cervical strain, left ankle disability, right knee disability, tinnitus, glaucoma, and bilateral hearing loss, produced total occupational impairment. The Board granted TDIU for accrued benefit purposes.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various disabilities, including depressive disorder NOS, right-hand disability, lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, left-hand disability, bilateral hip disability, and left-knee disability. The claims are being returned to VA for further development.