The Board finds that the veteran's current thoracic and cervical spine disabilities are not related to her military service, as there is no competent medical evidence establishing a nexus between these conditions and any in-service findings or occupational duties. The VA examiners have provided conflicting opinions regarding whether the veteran's current symptoms may be linked to service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the competent medical evidence does not establish a causal relationship between the veteran's current thoracic and cervical spine disabilities and her military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability (claimed as a neck disability), Thoracic spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 20, 2004
- Citation
- 0402022
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 0402022.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a thoracic spine disability but denied it for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as displacement of the lumbar disc with degenerative disc disease and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, dismissed the claim for a thoracic spine disability, and granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain and meniscal tear, left hip strain as secondary to a service-connected thoracolumbar lumbar spine disorder, and a generalized anxiety disorder and other specified depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for lumbar and thoracic spine disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical evidence linking these conditions to service or a service-connected disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome and a thoracic spine disability, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability. The claims for an initial compensable rating for allergic rhinitis and for service connection for sinusitis were denied.
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