The Board has granted increased evaluations for the veteran's right shoulder, left shoulder, and cervical spine conditions to 20 percent each, effective from March 1997.
The deciding factor: Higher evaluations were warranted based on the severity of the veteran's symptoms and functional impairment as documented in his medical records.
- Claimed conditions
- Tendonitis with bursitis of the right shoulder, Tendonitis with bursitis of the left shoulder, Degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- August 22, 2003
- Citation
- 0321162
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 0321162.
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 remands the claim for a cervical spine disability to obtain an adequate medical opinion addressing both causation and aggravation.
- Denied
The Board denied higher ratings for the Veteran's knee and cervical spine disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating under applicable criteria.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine has prevented him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful occupation, and he is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following any substantially gainful employment prior to June 14, 2022.
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