The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, finding that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's current condition is related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the Veteran's lay statements and a private physician's opinion linking the current cervical spine disability to service, with consideration given to the VA examiner's inadequate negative medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19163435
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 19163435.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, in combination, render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation consistent with his education and work history.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for a right shoulder condition, cervical spine degenerative arthritis, and TBI residuals due to potential errors in obtaining necessary medical opinions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine is dismissed as it remains pending in a legacy system and no statement of the case has been issued.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar degenerative disc disease with IVDS is rated at 40 percent, effective as of the date of this decision.,The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine is rated at 30 percent, effective as of the date of this decision.
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