The Board denied service connection for residuals of a head injury, nerve damage to C5-6 of the cervical spine with radiation to the upper extremities, drug use, and residuals of a left ankle fracture as there was no evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's active duty.
The deciding factor: There is no credible evidence of an event, injury, or disease in service upon which the claimed disabilities may be based. The STRs are devoid of any reference to head, neck, cervical spine, ankle injuries, and there is no current diagnosis of nerve damage or drug use related to active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a head injury, nerve damage to C5-6 of the cervical spine with radiation to the upper extremities, drug use, residuals of a left ankle fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0907949
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted a rating of 20 percent for the Veteran's residuals of a left ankle fracture, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including residuals of a head injury, bilateral hearing loss, neck disability, gout of the right ankle, unspecified trauma or stress related disorder, tinnitus, and other musculoskeletal issues.
- Dismissed
The veteran's appeal requests for extensions to file an appeal on various rating decisions were denied, and the attempted appeals are dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for residuals of a back injury, head injury, and neck injury as the evidence did not support that these injuries occurred during or while traveling from active duty.
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