The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for her service-connected neck, right upper extremity, thigh, shoulder, and thoracic spine disabilities have been denied. The evidence does not support a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic codes.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran’s conditions do not meet or approximate the criteria for higher ratings based on their severity as defined by VA's Rating Schedule.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic myofascial neck pain, right upper extremity reflex sympathetic dystrophy, right anterior thigh reflex sympathetic dystrophy, right shoulder strain with degenerative changes, thoracolumbar spine disability with degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19143652
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,812 · Granted: 30% (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 19143652.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service-connected. The Board has remanded the issues of entitlement to service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities, and claimed lower and mid-back condition with stomach pain.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for right upper extremity reflex sympathetic dystrophy, right anterior thigh reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and thoracolumbar spine disability due to inadequate examinations and lack of consideration of Veteran's statements regarding flare-ups.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not render him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment, thus denying his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for clothing allowances related to his service-connected right knee and back disabilities were denied because the conditions did not meet the criteria established by VA regulations.
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