The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for a neck disability and granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the condition is attributable to military service.
The deciding factor: Reasonable doubt was resolved in favor of the Veteran, who reported in-service injuries and current difficulty with his neck since then. The Board found the Veteran's treating physician's opinion credible and concluded that the in-service injuries were significant contributing factors for his current problems.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2014
- Citation
- 1443877
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 1443877.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that there is no nexus between the current disability and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for cervical and lumbar spine disabilities prior to October 22, 2008 are being remanded due to the need for additional retrospective medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
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