The Veteran's radiculopathy of the right upper extremity (associated with IVDS with arthritis of the cervical spine) is granted an effective date of January 28, 2016. The Veteran's service connection for sleep apnea and earlier effective dates for radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, urinary incontinence, and bowel incontinence are denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran’s sleep apnea began during active service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease. The Board finds the April 2016 examination report reflects that the Veteran had mild incomplete paralysis of his right upper extremity, which warrants a 50% rating.
- Claimed conditions
- radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, IVDS with arthritis of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- October 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19176830
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 19176830.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is granted as service connected.,The Veteran's radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, secondary to a cervical spine disability, is also granted as service connected.,The Veteran's right wrist disability and left knee disabilities are remanded for further development.,The Veteran's right ankle disability is remanded for further development.,The Veteran's vitamin D deficiency is remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's radiculopathy of the right upper extremity is currently rated at 20 percent, which is the maximum rating available under Diagnostic Code 8511.,The Veteran's radiculopathy of the left upper extremity is currently rated at 20 percent, which is the maximum rating available under Diagnostic Code 8511.,The Veteran's TMJ disorder is currently rated at 20 percent.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance of another person, nor does he have a single service-connected disability rated at 100 percent with additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent. The Board finds that the Veteran is able to perform most of his activities of daily living independently.
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