The Board has granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, as well as secondary service connection for radiculopathy of both upper and lower extremities. The Veteran's radiculopathy is also found to be related to his already service-connected lumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence supports a finding that the Veteran's current disabilities are related to his military service, with degenerative disc disease being directly linked to service and radiculopathy secondary to service-connected cervical spine disability. The Board finds no contrary evidence in the record.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, Radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, Radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19111292
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19111292.
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 Board denied service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that there is no nexus between the current disability and active duty service.
- Denied
The Board denied extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for cervical and lumbar spine disabilities prior to October 22, 2008 are being remanded due to the need for additional retrospective medical opinions.
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