The Board denied a request for an effective date prior to April 16, 2014 for the award of service connection for DJD of the cervical spine, patellofemoral syndrome of the right and left knees, residual scar from GSW of the back, and mild interphalangeal osteoarthritis of the left fifth finger.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the earliest effective date legally assignable is April 16, 2014, which corresponds to the date of receipt of the Veteran's claim for these disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the cervical spine, Patellofemoral syndrome of the right and left knees, Residual scar from gunshot wound (GSW) of the back, Mild interphalangeal osteoarthritis of the left fifth finger
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186811
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,810 · Granted: 23% (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 19186811.
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 Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for cervical spine DJD, right upper extremity radiculopathy, and left upper extremity radiculopathy due to incomplete development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for cervical and lumbosacral spine disabilities have been remanded due to new treatment records showing possible worsening of his conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's cervical spine disability, including whether it is related to service or secondary to a service-connected condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, effective February 5, 2022. The rating for LUE radiculopathy remains unchanged.
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