The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that it is not secondary to her service-connected low back disability and there is no evidence of a chronic condition in service or within the applicable presumptive period.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by VA examiners found no evidence linking the Veteran's cervical spine DDD to an injury during service or to her service-connected low back disability, concluding instead that it was likely age-related and not caused by deconditioning due to her chronic low back strain.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19131975
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,863 · Granted: 26% (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 19131975.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a cervical spine disability and lumbar spine disability as further development is needed to obtain an adequate medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for PTSD and remanded the claims for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, left upper extremity radiculopathy, and right upper extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including degenerative disc disease of the lumbar and cervical spine, bilateral trochanteric pain syndrome, and a gastrointestinal disability, to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to a total disability evaluation based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to April 26, 2022, for referral to the Director of Compensation Services for extraschedular consideration.
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