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
- Degenerative disc disease/degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Nerve paresthesia of the left side of the face, Residuals of right wrist strain, Status post malunion of fractured mandible; bilateral comminuted open fractures of the mandible left body and right angle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- December 13, 2006
- Citation
- 0638723
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,011 · Granted: 24% (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 0638723.
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
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