The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations and service connection, finding no evidence of a chronic disability related to his active duty service or any other basis for granting these claims.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's current disabilities to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Damage, fifth cranial nerve, Degenerative disc disease, cervical spine, Deviated nasal septum, postoperative nasal polyps, Fractured ramus and mandible with TMJ
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2005
- Citation
- 0500357
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 832 · Granted: 18% (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 0500357.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) and spinal fusion, as well as for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine. The decision is based on evidence showing that these conditions are at least as likely as not related to incidents during active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a VA examination to address the Veteran's need for regular aid and attendance due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's cervical and lumbar spine disabilities as well as left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating under applicable criteria.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical spine disability, left shoulder strain, and radiculopathy of the upper extremities were all denied ratings in excess of their current assigned ratings.
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