The Board has determined that the veteran's current degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine, claimed as a stiff neck, was not present during service and is not etiologically related to removal of an epidermal inclusion cyst incurred during service. Therefore, service connection for this condition is denied.
The deciding factor: The Board found no relationship between the veteran's current degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine and the removal of a cyst during service, nor did it find any evidence of arthritis within one year after separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2006
- Citation
- 0611525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,710 · Granted: 15% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0611525.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examiner's opinion regarding service connection for degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine is incomplete and requires further clarification. The case is being remanded to obtain an addendum opinion addressing whether the Veteran's current condition is related to his military service, including two claimed inservice collision injuries.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cervical spine disability, finding that there is no evidence of a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service and no causal relationship between the current disability and any service-connected conditions.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a cervical spine disability to obtain an adequate medical opinion addressing both causation and aggravation.
- Whole decision: 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.
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