The Veteran's cervical spine disability, alone with the use of sedating medications or associated peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities, has not been shown to be so exceptional or unusual as to warrant a higher rating on an extra-schedular basis.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not demonstrate that the Veteran's cervical spine disability is so exceptional or unusual in nature as to render impractical the application of the regular schedular standards used to evaluate his disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the cervical spine, Peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 31, 2015
- Citation
- 1537187
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1537187.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type 2 due to herbicide exposure and peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities secondary to the service-connected diabetes, but remanded the claim for cause of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for cervical spine DJD, right upper extremity radiculopathy, and left upper extremity radiculopathy due to incomplete development.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied, while the appeals for diabetes mellitus, type II, and peripheral neuropathy of both upper and lower extremities were remanded.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, as well as skin cancer, are granted. The claim for skin cancer is remanded due to a lack of opinion on direct service connection.
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