The Veteran's additional neurological disability, including right hemiparesis, spasticity, and bowel impairment, is determined to be the result of an event not reasonably foreseeable during his August 2004 cervical spine surgery at VA. The Board finds that this constitutes a direct service connection without any presumption or secondary linkage.
The deciding factor: The additional disability was due to an unforeseeable event during the surgical procedure, specifically the insertion of a METX guidewire too deeply, which caused spinal cord damage and subsequent neurological deficits.
- Claimed conditions
- right hemiparesis, spasticity, bowel impairment
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 19, 2011
- Citation
- 1134886
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 1134886.
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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