The Veteran's cervical spine, low back, and respiratory disabilities are granted as service-connected. The cervical spine disability is linked to in-service injury, while the respiratory condition is attributed to tobacco use.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's current cervical spine, low back, and respiratory conditions are found to be related to his military service due to credible reports of injuries sustained during service and ongoing symptoms since then.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical Spine, Low Back, Respiratory
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- July 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19151309
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 19151309.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds that this rating is not warranted for any period on appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied eligibility for benefits under the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) due to insufficient evidence showing that the Veteran requires personal care services for a minimum of six continuous months.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claim for service connection for cervical spine.
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