Neck / cervical spine decisions — 2024

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development, including obtaining service treatment and personnel records, verifying his service dates, and scheduling VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed disabilities.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed. The Board has also remanded the claims for chronic kidney disease and an increased rating for chronic epididymo-orchitis.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral ankle pain, bilateral knee pain, bilateral shoulder pain, bilateral hip pain, neck disability pain, and neuropsychological signs or symptoms due to an undiagnosed illness.

The Veteran's lumbosacral, cervical, right shoulder, and left shoulder strains have been granted service connection.,Further evaluations are needed to determine the nature of any arm disabilities.

The Veteran's cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, but not higher, for the entire period on appeal.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for higher ratings for her cervical spine spondylosis and thoracolumbar spondylosis, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a rating higher than 20 percent.

The Board has granted an earlier effective date of January 7, 2020 for the Veteran's cervical strain disability rated at 30 percent.

Effective dates of June 6, 2014, and no earlier, have been granted for service connection for lumbosacral spine strain with degenerative arthritis, cervical spine strain, degenerative arthritis, and intervertebral disc syndrome, and PTSD.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection for cervical spine disability, as it is related to his active duty service and secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability. The VA will provide an addendum medical opinion regarding these issues.

The Veteran's cervical spine disorder is granted a 30 percent disability rating, and the right and left knee disorders are denied initial ratings greater than 10 percent.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities were not severe enough to prevent him from securing and following substantially gainful employment prior to June 28, 2012. The Board denied an earlier effective date for the TDIU.

The Board has denied an increased rating for the low back disability and remanded issues of service connection for upper back and neck disabilities due to insufficient evidence regarding secondary causation or aggravation.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed as the claims were not filed within one year of the February 25, 2008 rating decision.,The request for an extension of time to file a Notice of Disagreement was denied due to lack of good cause shown.

The Veteran's service-connected CAD, acute myocardial infarction, CHF with CABG status PCI is granted a temporary total rating of 100% from December 23, 2023 to March 23, 2024. The remaining issues related to PVD, cervical spine disability, and lumbar spine disability are remanded for further evaluation.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal, and the Board has dismissed all issues on appeal.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the cause of the Veteran's death and its relation to service-connected conditions. The Appellant seeks service connection for the cause of her husband's death, which is related to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has granted service connection for cervical spondylosis and degenerative arthritis disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS). Service connection was also granted for a scar status-post anterior cervical discectomy as secondary to his cervical spondylosis and degenerative arthritis disability. The claims for left upper extremity radiculopathy and right upper extremity radiculopathy were dismissed due to the Veteran not filing a timely VA Form 10182.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment from November 14, 2011 to March 19, 2020.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a failure to provide a VA examination before making a decision on service connection for a cervical spine disability. The Veteran is requested to be examined by VA to determine if his current cervical spine disability is related to his service, including combat experiences and 'forced horseplay' reported by him.

The Board has denied service connection for left shoulder disability, cervical spine disability, diabetes mellitus type II, diabetic sensory motor neuropathy, renal calculus, erectile dysfunction, and right knee disability.,There is no evidence of a chronic or continuous condition since service separation.