The Board has determined that the veteran's service records show neck, shoulder, and upper back injuries during active duty. The VA examination confirmed these findings and concluded that it is at least as likely as not that the current conditions are related to events in service.
The deciding factor: A VA examiner concluded that the veteran's current neck, shoulder, and upper back condition was at least as likely as not caused by events during his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- neck injury, shoulder dysfunction, upper back pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2003
- Citation
- 0305203
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (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 0305203.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher initial ratings and service connection were dismissed due to their death. The claims will be dismissed without prejudice.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to recognize his December 17, 2008 correspondence as a timely and valid Notice of Disagreement (NOD) with the November 2008 rating decision. The underlying compensation claims will be addressed in a separate Board decision under the Legacy appeal system.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand several claims due to the Veteran's entitlement to Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits, which were not considered in the previous decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's kidney stones, neck injury, asthma, and right leg or knee disability are all granted. The Veteran is also awarded a 30% rating for his neck injury. However, the claims for service connection for asthma and right leg or right knee disabilities are remanded due to lack of proper development.
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