The Board has determined that the appellant does not have a current chronic thoracic spine disorder, and his claims for chronic neck disability and right upper extremity disorders are denied as they are not related to service.
The deciding factor: VA examinations and medical records do not support a nexus between the appellant's current disabilities and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Thoracic Spine Disorder, Chronic Neck Disability, Chronic Right Upper Extremity Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 21, 2008
- Citation
- 0809624
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 0809624.
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: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for OSA as secondary to PTSD, with obesity as an intermediate step. The Veteran's chronic low back and neck disabilities are also found to be related to his service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases of entitlement to increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine and service connection for chronic neck disability due to procedural issues.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's chronic neck and back disabilities are not service-connected, as they are not shown to be related to her active duty or secondary to her service-connected tardive dyskinesia.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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