The Board has denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability and a cervical spine disability, both claimed as back pain and neck pain respectively. The evidence does not support a finding of secondary service connection due to the Veteran's service-connected right shoulder disability.,The Board also found that there is no direct service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not establish a link between the lumbar spine and cervical spine disabilities and the service-connected right shoulder disability. The VA examiners provided opinions indicating that the Veteran's current spinal conditions are either unrelated to his in-service complaints or due to natural progression of age-related degenerative changes.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192728
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,812 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19192728.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus. Service connection is being remanded for the lumbar spine disability and right knee and calf disabilities.
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