The veteran's arthritis of the cervical spine is presumed to have been incurred in service, while his degenerative changes of the lumbar spine are not shown to be related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the veteran's degenerative joint disease of the cervical and lumbar spines was more likely than not secondary to injuries sustained during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the cervical spine, Degenerative changes of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 3, 2002
- Citation
- 0217444
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 0217444.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the VA examination and opinion were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's complete medical history. The case is now to be reviewed with an addendum VA opinion.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed with respect to the June 14, 2023 rating decision that decreased the rating for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective September 1, 2023.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability and an acquired psychiatric disability, but remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected degenerative changes of the lumbar spine and increased the disability rating for the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective August 18, 2023.
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