The Veteran's cervical spine disorder is granted a 20 percent rating, effective from the date of his claim. The other issues remain denied.
The deciding factor: The severity of the Veteran’s cervical spine disorder most closely approximated forward flexion of the cervical spine greater than 15 degrees but not greater than 30 degrees, stiffness, and pain; no more than a 20 percent rating was warranted based on these findings.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Multiple scars, Right ear hearing loss, Cervical spine disorder, Left upper extremity radiculopathy associated with cervical spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19139270
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 19139270.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for a cervical spine disorder and psychiatric disorder due to incomplete information. The Veteran needs to provide his complete service personnel records, verify his alleged combat experience in Vietnam, and undergo VA examinations for both conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that there was no evidence of a causal relationship between his current condition and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for Dupuytren's contracture of the left hand, right hand, and GERD is remanded due to inadequate VA examination opinions and failure to consider toxic exposure risk activities during service.
- Denied
The Veteran's GERD is currently rated at 10 percent disabling, but the Board found that his symptoms do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating.
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