The Board has determined that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders are related to his military service, and his cervical spine disorder is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease or injury during service.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows current diagnoses of PTSD and unspecified anxiety disorder, which are related to in-service combat stressors. The Veteran's cervical spine degenerative disc disease is less likely than not caused by his military service due to the lack of documented trauma and treatment for a cervical spine condition during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychiatric Disorders, Degenerative Disc Disease, Cervical Spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 30, 2017
- Citation
- 1755037
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 1755037.
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 Veteran's claim for SMC (Aid and Attendance) was denied because he did not meet the criteria of needing regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities. The claim for SMC (Housebound Status) was also denied as he did not have a single 100% disability rating.
- Granted
The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities and an earlier effective date for the grant of basic eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. The Veteran's STRs are unavailable, but he reported a stressful incident during service which may be related to his current mental health conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD, including as due to military sexual trauma (MST), should be remanded. The AOJ needs to correct any pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors and obtain a VA examination.
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