The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of the lower back and arthritis of the neck, finding that new and material evidence had been submitted. The Board then granted service connection for both conditions.,Service connection was established for arthritis of the lower back (arthritis of the spine) due to a VA examiner's opinion linking it to the Veteran's in-service duties as a loadmaster.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence, including an April 2017 VA examination report and a February 2017 private medical opinion from Dr. W.S., established that the Veteran's arthritis of the back was related to his service.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the spine, degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 28, 2018
- Citation
- 1819136
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 1819136.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine was granted. The claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and residuals of head injuries and concussions are remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for earlier effective date for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) prior to August 8, 2024, and dependency benefits from June 1, 2025, to August 8, 2025, for the school-aged child are both denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in obtaining relevant treatment records and inadequate VA medical opinions regarding secondary service connection.
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