The veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his cervical spine, lumbar spine, and hiatal hernia disabilities have been denied. The RO has determined that the evidence does not support a higher evaluation for any of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not show additional functional loss due to pain or other factors as required for higher ratings under the applicable diagnostic codes.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Hiatal hernia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2000
- Citation
- 0012838
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0012838.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable rating for the Veteran's GERD with hiatal hernia and dysphagia, finding that there was no documented history of esophageal stricture requiring daily medications to control dysphagia.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
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