The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that the Veteran's current condition is not related to his military service and that any pre-existing condition did not worsen during service.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of chronic cervical spine symptomatology or aggravation during active duty; and there still is no contemporaneously written medical evidence of a neck disorder/cervical spine symptomatology during service.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative joint disease, cervical spine weakening
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19104636
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19104636.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a temporary total rating based on hospitalization or convalescence due to his service-connected cervical spine disability is remanded as the record does not include post-surgical follow-up treatment records from the University of Virginia Hospital.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for cervical spine degenerative joint disease and a back disability due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service. The case is being remanded for further examination and opinion regarding the claimed back disability.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative joint disease and lumbar spine degenerative joint disease, including radiculopathy. The decision is based on the Veteran's reported in-service injuries and current medical diagnoses.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative joint disease, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to an in-service injury.
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