The veteran's chronic cervical spine disorder, including degenerative disc disease, is related to his service and the Board has granted service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was inclined to believe that the current cervical arthritis could be caused by the veteran's military service due to exposure to combat conditions such as carrying heavy equipment over extended periods of time and injuries in explosions causing multiple traumas to various body parts not directly related to the direct site injured.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic cervical spine disorder, degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2006
- Citation
- 0631345
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (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 0631345.
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.
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The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, including degenerative disc disease and scoliosis, due to lack of current disability evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examinations related to the Veteran's lower back condition and surgical scars are inadequate, necessitating a remand for further evaluation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection of a low back disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, finding inadequate medical opinions due to failure to consider all relevant evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to predecisional duty-to-assist errors, including inadequate medical opinions and missed VA examinations. The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition is being returned to the RO for further action.
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