The Veteran's cervical facet arthropathy at C3-4 is granted service connection as a presumptive condition. Service connection for cervical degenerative disc disease is denied.
The deciding factor: Service treatment records did not show complaints or findings of cervical degenerative disc disease, and the VA examiner provided a negative opinion citing medical literature showing age-related changes in 40% of adults over 35 years old.
- Claimed conditions
- facet arthropathy at C3-C4, cervical degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 30, 2018
- Citation
- 18145657
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 18145657.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of November 6, 2020 for both the TDIU and DEA benefits. The Veteran had no service-connected disabilities prior to this date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of an adequate opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cervical spine disability is caused or aggravated by his service-connected lumbar disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for cervical spine degenerative disc disease due to insufficient evidence regarding its onset and relationship to his military service. An additional VA examination is needed to address these matters.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for special monthly compensation (SMC) and special monthly pension (SMP) based on need for regular aid and attendance (A&A) or housebound status due to insufficient evidence showing that he needed such assistance.
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