The Board has determined that the appellant's claims for increased ratings for cervical and lumbar spine arthritis, hemorrhoids, and hallux rigidus with post-traumatic arthritis due to fracture of the right great toe proximal interphalangeal joint are denied. The current evaluations assigned do not meet the criteria for higher ratings under applicable diagnostic codes.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a finding of intervertebral disc syndrome involving the cervical spine, which would allow application of Diagnostic Code 5293 and potentially result in a higher evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis and spondylosis of the cervical spine, Degenerative arthritis and spondylosis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 28, 2003
- Citation
- 0301557
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 106 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0301557.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the readjudication of the claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder, but denied the claims for service connection for cervical spine disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and breathing condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of increased ratings and effective date for a lumbar spine disability due to insufficient evidence regarding flare-ups' impact on range of motion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of increased ratings and effective date for a TDIU due to an inadequate medical examination report.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for initial ratings and increased ratings for his service-connected lumbosacral spine and cervical spine disabilities, as well as his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). The AOJ is instructed to obtain any outstanding VA or private treatment records and undertake additional development if necessary.
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