The Board found that the Veteran's current cervical spine disability, including degenerative disc disease and arthritis, was not incurred in or aggravated by active service. The disability is considered to be a congenital defect with superimposed acquired conditions.
The deciding factor: The examiner determined that part of the Veteran's cervical spine disability was due to a congenital defect (fusion at C5 and C6) and did not find any evidence linking it to service or service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, fused vertebrae (C5 and C6), arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2015
- Citation
- 1533858
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 1533858.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to DIC due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion prior to the rating decision on appeal regarding whether the Veteran's arthritis was related to his period of active service, and if so, whether it contributed to his death.
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