The Veteran's lumbar spine disability, variously diagnosed as degenerative disc disease and intervertebral disc syndrome, is granted service connection. His cervical spine DDD is denied due to lack of chronicity within the presumptive period. OSA is granted service connection based on aggravation by PTSD. ED secondary to PTSD is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was found to be related to his in-service injury, while his cervical spine DDD did not manifest within the first year of discharge and lacks continuity of symptomatology. OSA was found aggravated by his service-connected PTSD, but ED secondary to PTSD is remanded for further evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), erectile dysfunction (ED)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- August 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19160239
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 19160239.
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 Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as service connected. The Veteran's infectious disease claim and stomach disability claim are remanded for further examination.
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