The Board has decided that the Veteran's cervical spine condition may be related to his military service, but a new examination is needed to determine if it was aggravated by ACDUTRA during Gulf War service.
The deciding factor: The examiner must assess whether the Veteran’s cervical spine disability began in or was caused by active duty service and if it was permanently worsened by ACDUTRA service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 17, 2018
- Citation
- 18135708
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 18135708.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative changes of the cervical spine and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), finding that new evidence supports these claims. Service connection is also granted for a musculoskeletal disability of the neck/upper back.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation from September 15, 2012. The Board granted a total disability rating for compensation due to his unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability as there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease related to active duty, ADT, or IDT.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative changes of the cervical spine and migraines (claimed as headaches) as secondary to a degenerative change in the cervical spine.
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