Neck / cervical spine decisions — 2025

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right knee disability and cervical spine disability due to further development needed regarding the Veteran's alleged combat service in Vietnam.

The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including psychiatric disorders, right hip disability, shin splints, upper respiratory infections, low back and cervical spine disabilities, as well as radiculopathy and sciatica in the lower extremities. The only positive decision was a 10 percent rating granted for eustachian tube dysfunction with vertigo.

The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability, finding that the evidence does not support a link between the condition and the Veteran's active-duty service or his service-connected left-hand neuropathy.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including cervical strain, lumbosacral strain and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, knee strains, psychiatric disorders, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, tinnitus, shoulder disabilities, breathing disability, foot disability, headache disability, and joint disability, to provide the Veteran an additional opportunity for examinations and opinions.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to higher ratings for cervical spine disability, left and right upper extremity radiculopathy, and right shoulder disability due to an outdated medical examination.

The Board granted earlier effective dates for the ratings and service connection of various conditions, including other reactions to severe stress with persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress and panic disorder, migraines, cervical strain, degenerative disc disease, and degenerative arthritis, as well as sleep apnea.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a neck condition, left arm condition, and left hand condition as there is a need for additional evidence.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities to correct duty to assist errors, including obtaining outstanding VA and private medical records, verifying a claimed in-service stressor, and scheduling VA examinations.

The appeal for earlier effective dates and increased ratings was dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his claims.

The Board remands the claims for further clarification and examination to determine the severity of the Veteran's right knee disability and the etiology of his cervical strain.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and remanded the remaining issues to obtain additional evidence, including medical records and opinions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for revision of rating decisions on the basis of clear and unmistakable error, finding no undebatable errors that manifestly changed the outcomes.

The Board granted service connection for multiple musculoskeletal disabilities, including left hip osteoarthritis, right hip osteoarthritis, left knee osteoarthritis, right knee joint osteoarthritis, right big toe osteoarthritis, cervical spine degenerative disc disease with cervical stenosis, and thoracolumbar degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome, lumbosacral spine spondylosis, and lumbosacral strain.

The Board remands the claims for a cervical spine disability, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, and lumbar spine disability as they require further development.

The Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder and denied a separate compensable rating for erectile dysfunction, while remanding claims for service connection for right foot, lumbar spine, cervical spine disabilities, and entitlement to TDIU.

The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for multiple conditions, and the Board has no further jurisdiction to consider these matters.

The Board denied an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for a cervical strain and tension headaches, granted a 10 percent rating for the right ankle disability, and denied service connection for tendonitis of the right ankle.

The veteran withdrew the appeals for a compensable rating of cervical spine and lumbosacral spine disabilities, thus the appeals are dismissed.

The Board granted service connection for erectile dysfunction as secondary to PTSD, denied service connection for Peyronie's disease and TBI, readjudicated the prior denials of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, cervical spine disability, left hand tremors, right hand tremors, head tremors, and denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for urinary incontinence or a bladder injury and fecal incontinence as resulting from a February 2017 inguinal hernia surgery at a VA facility. The Board also reinstated the ratings for left hip strain, right hip strain, and left knee strain.

The Board dismissed the veteran's appeal for service connection and effective date claims due to an impermissible concurrent election of review options.