The Veteran's spinal disorder was diagnosed within one year of separation from active duty service, meeting the criteria for presumptive service connection.
The deciding factor: Medical evidence confirmed that the Veteran's symptoms began in July 2012, which is within a year of his discharge from active duty service and related to the December 2012 diagnosis of a malignant spinal tumor.
- Claimed conditions
- Spinal Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19140375
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (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 19140375.
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 case for further development and consideration of issues related to the Appellant's character of discharge, service connection for a spinal disorder, and service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy. The AOJ is instructed to correct any pre-decisional errors in these claims.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's spinal disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service and is not proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury. The arthritis of cervical and thoracic spine did not manifest within one year of discharge from service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the veteran's spinal disorder is not related to service and therefore denied his claim for service connection.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's spinal disorder was not incurred or aggravated by service, and therefore denied his claim.
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