The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a cervical spine disability and PTSD, as well as her requests for increased ratings for her low back disability. The claim to reopen her cervical spine disability was not granted due to lack of new and material evidence. Her initial rating for her low back disability prior to September 23, 2002 was denied, but she received a higher rating after that date.
The deciding factor: The veteran's claims were denied as the submitted evidence did not provide new and material information regarding her cervical spine or PTSD conditions, nor did it establish service connection for these conditions. Her low back disability claim was also denied due to lack of evidence showing symptoms warranting a higher rating than what was already assigned.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, low back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- July 1, 2005
- Citation
- 0517980
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 0517980.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
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