The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disorder and found that the Veteran's right shoulder disability did not preclude him from obtaining TDIU. The Veteran appealed the decision regarding his right shoulder disability to the Court, which vacated the portion of the June 2014 Board decision holding that TDIU was not raised by the record.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations and medical opinions provided no evidence linking the current cervical spine disorder to service or any other etiology. The Veteran's STRs did not document neck pain, and his civilian records only indicated a diagnosis of a cervical spine disorder in the mid-2000s.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disorder, degenerative disc disease, degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 6, 2016
- Citation
- 1645642
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 1645642.
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 a cervical spine disorder, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's rating for his right elbow condition from 10 percent to 20 percent effective May 5, 2025, finding that the evidence was in equipoise regarding whether there had been improvement in the Veteran's ability to function under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates of January 13, 2020 for the service connection of low back disability and related radiculopathy issues. The Veteran's claims were reopened due to new evidence submitted in January 2020.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, including degenerative disc disease and scoliosis, due to lack of current disability evidence.
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