The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for cervical spine scar is denied. The Board finds the preponderance of the evidence does not show the Veteran has a cervical spine scar that is unstable, painful, or has a characteristic of disfigurement. Service connection for lumbar spine condition and bilateral knee condition are remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examination findings do not support a compensable rating for the cervical spine scar due to lack of instability, pain, or characteristics of disfigurement.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine scar, Lumbar spine condition, Bilateral knee condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19131118
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for GERD and remanded the claims for bilateral ankle, knee, hip, headache, and lower back conditions due to insufficient evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lower back condition, and a left hip condition. The right hip and bilateral knee conditions were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy but denied a higher rating for the lumbar spine condition and remanded service connection for knee condition.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for PTSD, lumbar spine condition, left knee condition, right knee condition, left foot condition, and right foot condition due to a lack of evidence supporting their direct or secondary relationship to the Veteran's military service.
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