The Board has denied service connection for cervical strain with degenerative joint disease, lumbar back pain with degenerative changes, left upper extremity numbness and pain, and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy as the evidence does not support a nexus to active service.
The deciding factor: The medical records do not establish a link between the Veteran's current disabilities and his in-service illness or treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical strain with degenerative joint disease, Lumbar back pain with degenerative changes, Left upper extremity numbness and pain, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19171545
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 19171545.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU and DEA claims are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors prior to the rating decision on review. The effective date for TDIU is set at January 31, 2021, based on the last day of employment. However, the RO needs to obtain SSA records regarding earnings from July 2020 to January 31, 2021, to determine if the Veteran's employment was marginal.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for right and left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, as well as right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, were restored to their previous levels of 70%, 60%, 30%, and 30% respectively, effective from February 12, 2025.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are rated at 10 percent each. The Board denied entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for both conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, as well as an earlier effective date for ischemic heart disease. The Veteran's TDIU claim was granted prior to March 25, 2011, due to his PTSD alone. SMC at the housebound rate was also granted from February 9, 2007, through December 1, 2009.
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