The Board denied the claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability as secondary to the veteran's service-connected left knee disability, based on medical evidence showing no relationship between the two conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found that the cervical DDD was not related to the veteran's service-connected left knee disability and had first manifested many years post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2009
- Citation
- 0911585
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (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 0911585.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's neck disability, diagnosed as cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), on a direct basis. The decision is based on credible lay evidence of onset in service and continuity of symptoms.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for initial ratings of her left shoulder strain and cervical spine disability due to new evidence or further clarification from the AOJ.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for cervical and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, left elbow sprain, right elbow enthesophyte, left knee strain and enthesophyte, right knee strain, and right leg radiculopathy but denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Granted
The Board granted initial ratings of 40 percent, but not higher, for a back disability; 30 percent, but not higher, for cervical spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), left hip disability, migraine headaches, sinusitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.
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