The Veteran's cervical spine disability is denied as it was not incurred during active duty, did not manifest to a compensable degree within one year of separation, and is not otherwise related to military service.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence that the Veteran’s degenerative disc disease manifested to a compensable degree within a year of service or that his current cervical spine disorders are due to his prior military service or an injury therein.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186234
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19186234.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's cervical disability. The claim will be reconsidered with this information.
- Denied
The Board denied the Appellant's request for attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in July 2024, as the May 2024 VA Form 21-526EZ submitted by the Appellant constituted an initial claim and not a supplemental one. The July 2024 Rating Decision was the initial decision on these issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeals for an earlier effective date and a higher rating for his psychiatric and cervical disabilities, as the evidence did not support an earlier effective date or a higher disability rating.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a cervical disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected Polymyalgia rheumatica, finding that the Veteran's auto-immune disease caused or aggravated his current neck condition.
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