The claim for service connection for cervical spine osteoarthritis was not reopened as new and material evidence was not submitted. The veteran's lumbar spine disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability, and the veteran's lumbar spine disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating based on the range of motion and other factors considered under the applicable diagnostic codes.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine osteoarthritis, osteoaarthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0910964
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 952 · Granted: 17% (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 0910964.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed disabilities are not related to his active service, including exposure to contaminants at Camp Lejeune or diabetes mellitus.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability, finding that the evidence did not support an in-service injury or disease and that there was no chronicity of symptoms during service. The Veteran's current condition is not related to his service-connected left shoulder disability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple osteoarthritis conditions, headaches, an acquired psychiatric disorder, diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, and gout based on the evidence showing a relationship to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for the following reasons: (1) The RO failed to associate VA treatment records from a non-VA provider with the claims file, which constitutes a pre-decisional error. (2) The issue of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) was not developed prior to issuance of the June 2022 Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC).
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