The veteran's service connection for residuals of a right wrist strain is granted. The RO has assigned a 30 percent disability evaluation for his degenerative disc disease/degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, which was previously rated at 20 percent. His status post malunion of fractured mandible; bilateral comminuted open fractures of the mandible left body and right angle remains noncompensable as there is no evidence of a compensable disability. The veteran's nerve paresthesia of the left side of the face has also been rated at 0 percent.

The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided by the RO supported the veteran's claims for service connection, with medical opinions indicating that his current conditions are related to his active duty service. For the cervical spine condition, the VA examiner opined that the veteran's degenerative disc disease/degenerative arthritis is at least as likely as not caused by his in-service motor vehicle accident. The RO assigned a 30 percent disability evaluation based on this opinion.

Claimed conditions

{"condition_name":"Residuals of right wrist strain","diagnosis_codes":[]}, {"condition_name":"Degenerative disc disease/degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine","diagnosis_codes":["5293"]}, {"condition_name":"Status post malunion of fractured mandible; bilateral comminuted open fractures of the mandible left body and right angle","diagnosis_codes":[]}, {"condition_name":"Nerve paresthesia of the left side of the face","diagnosis_codes":["8207"]}

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

30%

Decision date

December 13, 2006

Citation

0638723

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 0638723.