The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back and neck disabilities, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings under the applicable VA rating schedule.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran's lumbar spine and cervical spine conditions did not warrant a higher rating based on their current manifestations of pain, limitation of motion, or other symptoms. The medical evidence did not show ankylosis, incapacitating episodes, intervertebral disc syndrome, or any other factors that would justify a higher disability rating.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with degenerative arthritis, residuals of injury of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2006
- Citation
- 0634431
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,012 · Granted: 24% (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 0634431.
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: Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of November 19, 2019, for the grant of service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with degenerative arthritis and left lower extremity radiculopathies but denied earlier effective dates for other conditions.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a lower back disability due to insufficient evidence regarding its etiology. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further review and consideration.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board finds that a low back disorder, to include degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with degenerative arthritis, was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and arthritis may not be presumed to have been incurred in service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected lumbar and cervical spine disabilities are being remanded due to the submission of new evidence without a waiver by the RO.
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