The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that the Veteran's current diagnoses of arthritis of the cervical spine, cervical stenosis, discogenic spondylosis at C5-6, and hypomobility in the lower cervical spine did not have their onset during active military service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no credible evidence of a neck injury during active military service and conflicting statements from the Veteran regarding the onset and continuous nature of her neck pain. The current diagnoses were based on interpretation of symptoms, clinical, and diagnostic tests, which requires medical knowledge.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disorder, arthritis of the cervical spine, cervical stenosis, discogenic spondylosis at C5-6, hypomobility in the lower cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19124906
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 19124906.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that side effects from prescribed medications contributed substantially and materially to his accidental motorcycle collision resulting in fatal injuries.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, shin splints of the right and left lower extremities, multiple sclerosis (MS), thoracolumbar spine disorder, cervical spine disorder, left elbow disorder, left knee disorder, migraine headaches, and right knee disorder are dismissed.
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